_{Photo above: A woman in a protective face mask walks through Brixton Market in South London, Victoria Jones | PA Images via Getty Images (all rights reserved)}

What could arguably be the worst situation ever for any human being to be a part of?
Is it war? Is it poverty? Is it global destruction?
Perhaps a global pandemic might suffice…

COVID-19 has been the pandemic that the world has had to endure for almost a year, yet we are still baffled as to what the virus fully entails.

According to a Guardian article¹, the first case of the virus appeared as early as November 2019, in China. At the time it appeared that everything in the world was still “normal”, and then it wasn’t until December that the cases in China began to seriously rise. The rest of the world did not know what was to come. The Trump administration was adamant that China was to blame for this new strain forming. They believed it was manmade; but perhaps it was just another excuse for racism.

It was not until the beginning of the new year in January that trouble had begun. The coronavirus was now in Italy, and when February rolled in, they were in the hundreds. But as the virus was not initially identified as highly severe, Italy were continuing with their lives as though nothing had changed. The world had not experienced a pandemic this great since the early twentieth century (Spanish flu) and so they decided not to take the necessary precautions. But would you not play it safe under these circumstances?

While Italy carried on as they were; China’s numbers kept rising and airports were still transmitting the virus to other countries. By the end of February the UK had now gained their first set of confirmed cases, and most of British society believed that the virus was not a major issue, despite Italy’s warnings. This became astoundingly evident with the government’s response

The UK government was out of their depth and lacked the resources (perhaps even intelligence) in maintaining order and ensuring the safety of British citizens. This was proven when most of the UK cabinet, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, had caught the virus. If you are supposed to be the leader of the people, should you not be setting an example for the public? How could the most important man in the country (let alone his cabinet) be so careless? 

His ignorance was clear and became more so when the lockdown rules were implemented. When Matt Hancock took over Johnson’s tasks after obtaining the virus, we were told that not only would we need to stay indoors, but the lockdown would continue to the point that jobs and livelihood would be heavily affected. However, the rules were unclear, contradictory and nobody in society fully understood what they were allowed and not allowed to do.

Regardless of the unclear rules, a lack of common sense arose. People went to supermarkets and bulk bought everything they thought they needed in case they were to shut down. Fear had become a clear player in this scenario, which only made matters worse. Nobody knew what was going to happen, and that included the government.

What scientists and medical professionals had indicated to the UK public let alone the global population, were warnings and concerns of the virus’ severity, and how the government did not provide enough precautions for the virus to dissipate quickly. With the numbers further rising in April and eventually reaching their peak in June (despite the local spikes this month), it is evident that not only stronger precautions should have been implemented in order to keep us safe, but the number of casualties could have also been prevented.

However, the UK government ignored suggestions made by the medical professionals, and of course as we understand it, Dominic Cummings, our so-called Chief Advisor, had not been the competent man that we desperately needed. We had been constantly lied to. People have now decided to move on, which indicates that the government is no longer being listened to. Maybe if the lockdown rules had been more sensible, then society might have listened better?

The UK government in the last few years have shown us that they are not sophisticated, empathetic or competent enough to look after this country. Their efforts can be best described as severe negligence. Of course while British society can be good at pretending that problems do not exist, even if said problems have grown bigger, our lives have now become the phrase of “living in ignorant bliss”. Ignorance may seem like a good idea for a while, but if it means that you end up killing your loved ones, then I don’t see why this would be as any kind of “bliss”.

While I understand why people wish to “go back to normal” and live our lives like we once did (with slight improvements perhaps), what I don’t understand is people’s lack of community, lack of compassion and a lack of assurance of safety. Why do people wish to take risks when it comes to their own lives? Why do they want to continue their everyday tasks if it means that their next door neighbour might suffer the consequences? Do we not love thy neighbours?

Let’s say you were in a restaurant, and you weren’t enjoying the food on your plate, would you then mindlessly pass your uneaten food to another customer for them to eat instead? Unless you’re missing a few screws in that tired brain of yours, I doubt it. So, if it is not OK to pass your germs through food, why is it OK to pass on your germs without a mask? Even if you don’t believe that this virus exists, even if you think the statistics are bunkum, what is stopping you from keeping others safe? What if you turn out to be wrong?

And worst of all, the government has become so powerless that people have gone to the streets and asked for their rights, and told others that they refuse to wear a mask. Why? Probably because the government did not take the virus seriously at the beginning, and therefore people are wondering why they should. Surely it is obvious that if doctors and nurses are urging us to wear masks, then perhaps this means we should, and politics has got involved once again. Chaotic consequences have been caused by the very people in power.

Let us try to be better from now on. Let us recognise that countries like Japan and China have it switched on. They have been wearing masks long before we were “forced” to. They had no complaints. What the heck is so wrong with our lives that we have to moan about a cloth attached to our faces? We need to be there together to fight against the destructiveness of humanity, and if we don’t change our habits or our lifestyles soon, then it will only get worse from here.

Guardian article: Davidson, H (2020) “First Covid-19 case happened in November, China government records show” [Accessed 11 Aug, 2020]