If someone were to say in 2020 the world would come to a complete standstill with economies reaching record-breaking levels of recessions, mass unemployment, businesses collapsing, and the scariest of them all… the entire world going into a lockdown.
It’s safe to say you’d have thought it was something out of a black mirror episode. However, this is far from a horror movie this a reality, and in addition to that people are dying.
In this article, I pose the question of can we carry on like this focusing on the broader sense then finally bringing it to a personal level which we must then ask ourselves.
Therefore, the focus will be away from the loss of life caused (which is an important factor to consider of course) but rather on other elements such as the economy and livelihoods.
A few things to note on what exactly we are doing and have done so far:
1. The UK is at a record-breaking level of recession with GDP falling over 20%
2. Redundancies and Unemployment at alarming rates. Unemployment projected to be 2.6 million by mid-2021
3. Lockdowns costing the UK economy around £2.4 billion pounds a day… Yep!
Taking these into consideration, it sounds akin to kamikaze (self-destruction) if we continue along this path, the destination is clear. Some might say this is justifiable in order to preserve lives, others will say it does the total opposite as locking down costs just as many. Both hold weight from reputable sources Imperial and Oxford Universities.
Though one of the schools of thought was the chosen method by certain government bodies such as SAGE who predicted up to 4000 deaths a day which was way off! Not to dwell on the deaths too much but the figures released by the Office for National Statistics ONS, paint a totally different story, one being covid might not be as “deadly” as it seems… well it’s the 19th most deadly at least for the month of September 2020. The figures put it behind Cancer, Dementia, Influenza, and others.
Winners and losers
One of the worst-hit sectors has been the hospitality industry
Time and time again they have received conflicting guidance from the government around operations and no business can function opening for one month then having to close for the next two.
This is of no surprise, as it’s difficult to open a home delivery brew service as it’s just not the same as going to a pub or bar and having a pint and something to eat.
Other multinational corporations on the other hand have earned ridiculous sums of money during these tough times. Around 40 million Americans have filed for unemployment while billionaires saw their wealth rise by half a trillion dollars! If that isn’t a point of concern that I’m not sure what exactly is.
Even pets are starting to get sick of us humans being at home all the time… well only the cats probably. Gino has been a good boy and has enjoyed every minute of the company.
I guess the ultimate reason to carry on would be to preserve life or “save lives” as the slogan says, but that opens an even deeper question with “well how many lives do we save locking down vs not locking down?”
Professor Philip Thomas of Bristol University has written a risk analysis study on precisely this point. His paper and article mention that lockdowns themselves could be causing way more harm than good.
Narrowing it down to a personal level how many more zoom meetings can we take? Is the mental health of people taken into consideration at all? Is the place we call “home” suitable? How many tiers do we have before we tear into pieces? Just a few questions which are to be pondered on.
It’s easier to suggest lockdowns and stricter rules as the answer if your business is not utterly destroyed, or perhaps if you don’t have to rely on a food bank and there is food at home… if you even have a home… the list goes on. These are important factors to bear in mind.
Conclusion
Covid related deaths are a touchy subject and every life lost is tragic but we might need to remove any anecdotal evidence as solid ground to support nationwide restrictions that affect millions not just here but across the globe. Though the government has provided guidance, all somewhat wishy-washy if you ask me but the rules have been set, and well… we must oblige by them.
The food for thought is… Is all this really sustainable? And if so for how long?
*At the time of writing on the 5th Jan 2021, the UK government announced further lockdown measures*
