The COVID Mobius Strip

I read this morning that Johnson is calling on the British public to use common sense in dealing with COVID once the final restrictions are lifted on July 21st.

Hmmm, I thought, that sounds familiar.

And sure enough, this is what I wrote on May 31st 2020:

" Great British common sense

In lieu of an actual plan for loosening the lockdown, two weeks ago, PM Boris Johnson, said he was going to rely on Great British Common Sense.

I remarked at the time that the ting about common sense is that it isn't that common.

And then came Commingsgate, and an announcement announcing a further loosening to start from June 1, just before the hottest, sunniest weekend of the year. Johnson also suggested it was fine for people to visit the beach.

The British public, bypassin common sense got in their cars and drove to the coast. So much so, the beach at Durdle Door was jam packed. Which would have been bad enough, but three people ignoring common sense completely, decided to jump off the cliffs into the sea, seriously injuring themselves. This needed not one, but two air ambulances to be called, and so half the beach was fenced off whilst the copters landed, thus squeezing the sunbathers into half the space.

That is what Johnson was calling upon to show people knew what they should and shouldn't have been doing.

Meanwile, police in Brighton spent the day helping people from the beach drunk, sunburnt or both.

So much for common sense.

And tomorrow, horse racing returns, some schools can partially open, though all the public schools for posh kids will remain closed until September, so make of that what you will. But I'm sure those primary school kids will exercise common sense and keep a 2m distance from each other.

Meanwhile, too dangerous for more than 50 MPs to be in the Commons at once, but that's because they don't have common sense I suppose. But meing members of the House of Commons you would have thought they had lots.

Still.

And from tomorrow, all those listen in vulnerable groups will be able to leave home. I would suggest, with great respect, to stay home, stay safe."

I work with quality systems, and one of the main drivers of change and improvement is lessons learned. What should have happened last year was that a lessons learned exercise took place, to ensure if a second (or third) wave happned, we could deal with that better.

But no.

Johnson refuesed, saying there wasn't time, and so unlocked with undue haste and allowed the virus to spread once again, creating a deadlier second wave through the autumn and winter.

And here we are, 13 months on, and Johnson is doing the very same thing that causes so many deaths since, and papers and the BBC just repeat it without question. I mean, I am fed up with lockdowns, and I have no desire to go back and want normal as soon as possible, but this will kill many more people and probably create a vaccine resitant strain, thus rendering the mass vaccination of the population pointless.

And people wonder why I'm angry.....