I don't know if I would have done better to bombard my MP with more emails than I usually send, or to address my complaints and suggestions to the prime minister and his colleagues. I can only say that it has been bizarre to be shouted at and told that the "experts" advising the government know more than I do, and to find out that was wrong, I was right. What good does that do?
There is no doubt that I would prefer to have my drugs and doctoring done by experts, and I would not let Joe Bloggs loose on my body if I needed an operation of some sort, but sometimes a layperson can see what an expert requires too much evidence to believe quickly. We had that example of Italy laid out in front of us, and yet experts modelled our behaviour and infection rate on an entirely different disease (viral pneumonia) and then were surprised that what was happening in real time in our country did not follow their models.
I am very concerned that along with draconian powers to close borders and control people's movements, there are clauses in the new powers that government are awarding themselves to curtail information and to punish people who whistleblow. I completely understand the need to stop allowing people to sue the authorities if hard decisions have to be taken in the next few weeks about who to save and who to allow to die, but that should not mean that truth cannot be told.
We watched in horror last night on the television as truck after truck laden with dead bodies left the Lombardy area. They cannot cope with the number of bodies they have for cremation. Lines of coffins lying in churches. Exhausted medics nursing their own colleagues, begging for protective equipment, valves for ventilators, ventilators.
In Spain, it seems that the authorities did not react earlier because they wanted to keep the country open for the festivals which bring in a vast amount of tourism and money for the economy. Many of the tourists apparently came from northern Italy, and so it is easy to guess that the economic decision which seemed justified a few weeks ago may turn out to be very costly in terms of lives lost and the boom which is about to hit their health system.
Meanwhile, people continue as normal. A local pub, the White Swan, advertises on the local facebook groups that they are open as usual, but have separated the tables more, to avoid contagion. I posted begging them to close - I cannot understand why Boris Johnson has not acted to close the restaurants, pubs and clubs and to force them to turn to take away and delivery options only. It's going to cost lives, in the long run, and won't help businesses that are quickly going to be unable to afford to keep going even if they do that.
Finally, his reluctance to institute a universal income, is meaning that those who have already lost their jobs are despairing. Half the population is carrying on as normal and wants to be able to collect rents, charge people for things, and the other half has already stopped behaving as normal, is doing their best to stay and home and is watching the other half play Russian roulette with everyone's lives.
I caught the broadcast of a podcast on BBC yesterday, Newscast, which I didn't even realize was a thing. It's a filmed version, which is going out every weekday on BBC1 apparently. It featured BBC journalists, including Laura Kuensberg, discussing the days developments, and interviews with a brave journalist in Italy reporting the army trucks leaving Lombardy because they are now overwhelmed with bodies as well as patients.
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