Into The Unknown

Although I wasn’t around to experience The Phoney War, the eight months that followed the declaration of World War Two in September 1939 up until the German invasion of France and The Low Countries in May 1940, what we are living through in the UK at present has to be a little similar. Coronavirus (Covid-19) is out there, some people have had it, and of those, most have recovered but sadly, some have died.

What is happening in the UK is likely to follow events in other European countries, especially Italy, and as I write this, the Government is preparing to introduce bans on mass gatherings and ask the over-70s to self-isolate for four months, even if they have not been infected.

Already the majority of football matches have been postponed and concerts cancelled. This ought to have been a busy week for me, with four football matches, three concerts, and a BBC recording to go to in eight days. As it transpires, all of the football is off, and two of the concerts have been cancelled. I’m in two minds about whether to go to the other one or the BBC show. There is no definitive advice on the subject really; going to a concert or show and eliminating all risk of infection is nigh-on impossible, although the risks can certainly be mitigated. Because of my age and the fact that I have high blood pressure, I may be slightly more at risk than some other people. The fact that one of the drugs I take for my high blood pressure could increase that risk, and potentially make the infection more potent, is another factor to be considered.

In Italy, some games have been played behind closed doors, in England the Premier League chose to suspend fixtures.

Having said that, I still have to go to the supermarket, which is probably just as risky as going to a gig attended by just a couple of hundred other people, or going to a football match with a similar crowd. Yesterday in Tesco, there were people openly coughing, or coughing into their hands; the possibility of getting infected there is as great, or greater, than anywhere.  

Lots of the shelves in the supermarkets are bare, of course. Toilet rolls, soap, hand sanitizers, and dry pasta have been widely reported to be in short supply, and yesterday you could add bread, eggs, meat, and cereal to that list. There also seemed to be less in the way of fresh vegetables and fruit than normal. Friday afternoon in Tesco was like Christmas, with trolleys laden and queues at all of the checkouts. It is understandable, and even if people are not panic buying, if every customer buys just a few extra items, the shelves are soon going to be stripped. It concerns me, however, that by buying more than normal, shoppers are depriving others of essentials, and equally that some of the items they are buying may end up being thrown away, unused and wasted.

I managed to get some toilet rolls on Friday from one of our local shops – I actually got them for my elder daughter, whose work and other commitments have made it difficult for her to get to the shops before things sell out – and as I was walking home, it occurred to me that if I was going to get mugged, then it would more likely be for the toilet rolls than my wallet. Lo and behold, the very next day it actually happened to a chap in Haringey.

It is understandable that people are buying stuff ‘just in case’ and the empty shelves are being caused simply by increased demand, not problems in the supply chain. We are perhaps fortunate that the Covid-19 outbreak has not coincided with an event that might have caused delays in goods reaching the supermarkets (yes, no-deal Brexit, I do mean you).

Predictably, there has been much on social media (especially Twitter) suggesting that Covid-19 may be used as an excuse to delay Brexit negotiations, or Brexit itself. Frankly, at the moment Brexit, HS2 or any other long-term project (controversial or not) probably needs to take a back-seat while we sort out how we are going to get through the next few weeks and months. The idea that the over-70s may have to isolate themselves for sixteen weeks suggests that coronavirus is with us for some time to come. Neither Brexit nor HS2 is a matter of life or death, Covid-19 is.

In the same way, discussions around how the Premier League – or any other league for that matter – will deal with a long-term suspension of activity is not as significant as dealing with the matter of coronavirus itself. Whether the season is considered null and void, or if the current league tables as they are, are considered the definitive outcome, or if some other solution (final table calculated on a points-per-game basis for example) is used, pales into insignificance if we all have to self-isolate for weeks or even months.

There have been some kites flown about how coronavirus started, for example, is it man-made, whether there is a vaccine that is being held back, whether Dean Koontz (or even The Simpsons) predicted it, etc, etc, etc. Inevitably, these theories go hand-in-hand with the idea that governments know more than they are telling people; in some ways, the opposite may be true, governments know less than they are telling people. I say that because with coronavirus we truly have taken a step into the unknown. There is no precedent in my lifetime for what we are facing at present, so inevitably policy is being made on the hoof and why – as we have seen in the world of sport, where the Premier League and the Football League cancelled fixtures, but the National League did not – there has been some 

inconsistency in approach.

It has been claimed that Dean Koontz predicted Covid-19 in this book.

What is happening is unprecedented, and the situation is changing quickly and frequently. At the moment, it all seems a little unreal, weird, and unsettling. Even when all this is over, I don’t think we’ll ever be the same again.