Wait, we’re still being asked to save the NHS? To limit our lives so that we don’t get injured or sick and put pressure on this sacred institution? Nearly two years after the first lockdown, when we were put under house arrest to protect the NHS from being overloaded with Covid patients, we’re once again being told to restrict our daily activities so that we don’t do something dumb that might require the attention of a doctor. The logic of lockdown survives. The idea that our freedom must sometimes be suspended for the good of institutions staggers on. Post-lockdown? You wish.
In the first lockdown in 2020 the main mantra was: ‘Stay Home. Protect the NHS. Save Lives.’ That’s what those looming government ads told us, in black lettering on a yellow background, the colours used to warn of a physical hazard. This time the physical hazard was us. It was a pretty serious reworking of the social contract. For decades we thought the NHS existed to protect us from sickness. Then it turned out it was our solemn duty, one enforceable by cops, to protect the NHS from… well, us. Now, in the supposedly post-pandemic era, the NHS apparently needs us to lock down our lives once again, like good minions making sacrifices to appease the god of public health.
NHS officials are telling us to avoid doing anything ‘risky’. In December, when ambulance workers in England and Wales were striking, we were told by a government health minister to avoid going for runs if the streets were icy and to stop all contact sports. Shorter version: ‘Stay home. Protect the NHS.’ In the run-up to the new year, the chief medical officer for Wales, Frank Atherton, went further. Given how stressed the NHS is, we all have a responsibility to stay out of ‘trouble’, he said: ‘This is not the time to be putting yourself at risk with dangerous activities.’ ‘[D]on’t drink too much’ was one of his tips. Another was to avoid strenuous exercise. ‘Now is not the time to be going out and starting to do a huge long run’, he said. Maybe Stay Home instead?
The lingering impact of lockdown has left our societies incredibly confused. So the hospitality industry, still reeling from the loss of business it suffered during the lockdowns, is pleading with us to dodge Dry January this year. ‘Keep going to pubs’, as one headline summarises the industry’s cry. And yet then we have health officials telling us to dodge drink to make sure we don’t fall down or have a scrap and end up requiring a time-starved nurse to fix us. So, do we protect pubs or do we protect the NHS? Do we go out or stay home? Which lockdown-ravaged institution should we reorder our lives around saving?
Make no mistake: the current NHS crisis is in part a result of lockdown’s ravages. ‘The health and care system is under such pressure’, says Atherton in his plea to us to stop doing stuff. There are various reasons for this. There’s the usual winter sickliness, the rise of both flu and Covid, a little bit of hangover from the strikes, and just that mundane, everyday disarray in the NHS, which we’re not allowed to talk about, I know. But there’s also the fact that we essentially shut down the health system for months on end in the lockdown era, or at least sternly warned people against bothering their GPs or A&E with their tiresome ailments. And this created backlogs of patients. Of course it did. The British Heart Foundation estimates 30,000 excess deaths from heart disease as a result of ‘disruption’ to health services, including the disruption of the pandemic years. Experts warn that Europe faces a ‘cancer epidemic’ after an estimated one million diagnoses were missed during the pandemic.
Brendan O’Neill is spiked’s chief political writer. This article was first published HERE
NHS officials are telling us to avoid doing anything ‘risky’. In December, when ambulance workers in England and Wales were striking, we were told by a government health minister to avoid going for runs if the streets were icy and to stop all contact sports. Shorter version: ‘Stay home. Protect the NHS.’ In the run-up to the new year, the chief medical officer for Wales, Frank Atherton, went further. Given how stressed the NHS is, we all have a responsibility to stay out of ‘trouble’, he said: ‘This is not the time to be putting yourself at risk with dangerous activities.’ ‘[D]on’t drink too much’ was one of his tips. Another was to avoid strenuous exercise. ‘Now is not the time to be going out and starting to do a huge long run’, he said. Maybe Stay Home instead?
The lingering impact of lockdown has left our societies incredibly confused. So the hospitality industry, still reeling from the loss of business it suffered during the lockdowns, is pleading with us to dodge Dry January this year. ‘Keep going to pubs’, as one headline summarises the industry’s cry. And yet then we have health officials telling us to dodge drink to make sure we don’t fall down or have a scrap and end up requiring a time-starved nurse to fix us. So, do we protect pubs or do we protect the NHS? Do we go out or stay home? Which lockdown-ravaged institution should we reorder our lives around saving?
Make no mistake: the current NHS crisis is in part a result of lockdown’s ravages. ‘The health and care system is under such pressure’, says Atherton in his plea to us to stop doing stuff. There are various reasons for this. There’s the usual winter sickliness, the rise of both flu and Covid, a little bit of hangover from the strikes, and just that mundane, everyday disarray in the NHS, which we’re not allowed to talk about, I know. But there’s also the fact that we essentially shut down the health system for months on end in the lockdown era, or at least sternly warned people against bothering their GPs or A&E with their tiresome ailments. And this created backlogs of patients. Of course it did. The British Heart Foundation estimates 30,000 excess deaths from heart disease as a result of ‘disruption’ to health services, including the disruption of the pandemic years. Experts warn that Europe faces a ‘cancer epidemic’ after an estimated one million diagnoses were missed during the pandemic.
Brendan O’Neill is spiked’s chief political writer. This article was first published HERE
2 comments:
What we're seeing now, in most "developed" countries around the World, is the aftermath of deeply flawed political decisions which have made many people perpetually fearful, sick and much poorer.
The social and economic impacts of a singular groupthink approach to a problem, led by advice from a small, specially chosen group of so-called experts are now coming home to roost.
That goes right through all sectors of society.
And in our case, throw in a bunch of racist nutters who want to split the country in two, 83:17 and you have a recipe for national discontent and unhappiness.
The biggest lesson we need to learn is NOT to make the same disastrous mistakes again.
Oh puh-leeze could we all let Covid-moaning sink into oblivion and get on with some important issues? YES - they made mistakes! Most of them probably did the best they could! They might know better next time!
This precious planet - which may well contain the only intelligent life in the entire universe - is at frightful risk of over-consumption, over human population, loss of diversity, pollution yadda-yadda-yadda and we are still blethering on about the right to jab!
And yes, racism is rife, and particularly maniac in NZ, and if we can't knock that on the head this election year, we don't deserve the great good fortune we possess in living at the end of the line. Good luck and Happy New Year to the thinkers.
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