Back in Lockdown

Sri Lanka Guardian12:29 PM

There is now pressure mounting to get vaccinations at a sufficient pace to contain the spread.

by Victor Cherubim

About 1.1 million or around 2 percent of the population in England are estimated to have tested positive for COVID-19 between 27 December 2020 and 2 January 2021, according to Office of National Statistics.

A record 60,916 people have developed the virus in the past 24 hours with 830 further deaths. This is far beyond comparison in many other countries, including Sri Lanka where the pandemic is said to be under control, to allow Ukrainian tourists to arrive as a pilot project.

The introduction of the current Third (3rd) National Lockdown has been forced on the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, with the advantage of a total of 1.3 million people across the UK have already received the vaccine. 

There is now pressure mounting to get vaccinations at a sufficient pace to contain the spread. The Lockdown is set to last until March, according to some sources. The tight new restrictions are surely bound to be a burden on an already tired population, as hospitals struggle to deal with admissions. 

The Labour Opposition is demanding that the vaccine roll out is conducted round the clock to get around 13 million people in the top priority categories vaccinated by end of February 2021. This may be “realistic” but not an easy task. 

What’s next? 

Which rules may be lifted and when, is now the big debate in politics?

The race to accelerate vaccination and get the virus under control is on everyone’s mind, as holidays in the UK and abroad are banned. Close contact indoor visits to Care home visits are also banned. Unlike in the first national lockdown in March 2020, places of worship are not required to close in England. But Scotland has instructed churches to close.

Life never stands still 

The illusion that everything is at a standstill and/or “things are fixed in stone,” is quickly evaporating as events persuade us to think again. It may not be easy to find reasons to be cheerful. There is no doubt that the Lockdowns have brought with them a “smorgasbord of side effects,” some of them surprisingly positive.

People have awoken to the community spirit particularly during this Christmas season, despite the virulent variant strain of the virus, even though most people are having to be shut inside their homes for now. Many communities have come closer, neighbours would hardly have spoken to each other over years. Community groups have sprung up like mushrooms this winter, with volunteers doing shopping and picking up medical prescriptions for the elderly and the vulnerable. 

In the UK, a staggering 750,000 people we are told, have signed up in answer to the Government’s plea for 250,000 NHS volunteers.

There has been community “singalong” recently from the balconies of Council tenancies, bringing people together with neighbours they may have never spoken to before. 

Reduced carbon emissions have been a noticeable feature in London and other major cities in UK, as the economy has ground to a halt, so has fossil fuel usage, noise reduction and most of all knife crime. Fossil fuel usage is the biggest shock to the eco-system, say in 70 years, resulting in cleaner air. Besides, crowded trains to work and back and less travel have meant savings in time and money. 

Hard and cool cash 

Changes in spending habits has been a noticeable feature after the early days of panic buying and clearing of “toilet rolls” off supermarket shelves. People are not having to spend much on non-essentials, include savings on travel to work and holidays. It also seems that “Amazon buying” has abated. This has added up to family savings. Banks report that credit card debt is being repaid much quicker than before. With savings interest rates and BOE rate well below 1%, the incentive to invest, is off the radar. Many people are saving not only money but saving time for more worthwhile home pursuits. 

Sleep patterns

The best result after the past lockdowns is that people can sleep a bit more comfortably with noise of traffic at night much less. It has been a noticeable feature that cars bypass main roads and use side roads to avoid traffic at night. They have been a continued exhaust noise pollution nuisance. Whether they are on nocturnal nefarious activities is not known? But one thing is for sure they are now being monitored by Police helicopters throughout the night and recently we are told that people who drive on the pretence to work are interrogated during daylight hours as well, enforcing strict Lockdown rules. Researchers estimate an average of 17 minutes more sleep each night is noticed during lockdowns. Sleep quality too has improved with more “Deep Sleep”.                                                              

Courts of Law

Court sessions have not been abandoned with the current Lockdown. Law Courts remain open by either virtual conferencing or by attendance, with special precautions. It is however not known whether all matters are resolved in this way or be put off for more hearings?

Time to restructure life during lockdown

The hard and fast reality of an incredibly difficult anticipated current lockdown may have to be borne by many in UK, but strangely it appears, “it is OK to be not OK right now”?

People have come to understand and accept, rightly or not, that it is right to be protected at this truly unprecedented time. Out of this disaster may come some creativity. Out of quarantine comes bonus time with family. Out of face covering and social distancing, the medics tell us, that the bout of winter flu has slightly receded this time. 

There have been many positive things, let alone positive COVID-19 Test results.