I listen to a man on the wireless this morning clearly and calmly arguing the case that lockdown strategy has been catastrophic to societies all over the world. I listen to Jason Leitch, our National Clinical Director, saying that the anti-lockdown protests seen over the weekend have been ‘deeply irresponsible.’ I know in whose slipstream I am following. But this is another example of how these Covid-19 days can do your head in. (Not the most decorous turn of phrase perhaps but sometimes it’s the indecorous that does the job.)
There are so many facts and figures as well as opinions that cut across official government lines much to the delight of conspiracy theorists. But at that level where simmers common sense it doesn’t seem inappropriate in face of this pandemic to be wearing masks and observing social distance. I had an uncomfortable part of a railway journey in February 2019. Just before my treatment was to begin I took the opportunity to go to Cheltenham to see the family. Gabrielle was following later. From Glasgow Central to Carlisle I found myself sitting beside a young woman who coughed every twenty minutes. I was later given a row by both wife and a Beatson nurse. ‘Why didn’t you change your seat?’ With a dodgy immune system even then and if I had picked up something my treatment might have been postponed. If I ever get back on a train I will undoubtedly be a masked man.
The point being that we are susceptible to bugs anyway. How much more when there is a highly contagious and dangerous bug out there. So I will listen to the anti-lockdown folk but I will be following Dr. Leitch.
The head is more more severely done in, however, when we consider the powers that shut down businesses and restrict visitors to our homes. By no means is it suggested that governments take these powers lightly. And when guidelines are issued or laws passed it is a huge matter for people either to ignore or work against them. You can feel Jason Leitch’s frustration when he says of the ant-lockdown protestors:
"I honestly do not understand it . . . do they think we're making it up? 194 countries are making up a viral pandemic.
"I would love to have not lived through the last six months, both in my job and what we have had to do to our country and many others.
"I think it is deeply irresponsible.”
I suppose what is worrying many people is that for the first time in living memory they have seen freedoms curtailed by government. The reasons for this may be well-meaning but the fact that it can be done in respect of the whole population has produced psychological tremors. Schools and churches closed. Entertainment restricted to the couch. Work and travel shut down. No visits to care homes and hospitals to visit loved ones. You can add your own experiences to the list. At the turn of the year it would have appeared to be yet another outlandish plot in a dystopian movie.
But this is where we are. There are still restrictions and the future is uncertain. Which gives me all the more reason to go with the apostolic injunction to pray for all those in government. That they will have the welfare of the nation at heart undistorted by political aspiration. That no decisions will affect personal freedom unnecessarily. That they will be guided by the best science. That they will be sustained in body, mind and spirit.
I think it was Winston Churchill who said that democracy is not perfect but think of the alternatives. We have had a glimpse of the extreme measures governments can take for our good. The overarching prayer is that it stays that way.
