Today is the so called "Freedom Day", in England.
It is the day where social distancing is no longer required, facemasks are no longer mandatory and all venues, clubs, pubs, restaurants, sports events, require no additional measures to protect people against Covid-19.
This reckless action is set against the backdrop of a new surge of infections, whilst our new Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who has been in post for just three weeks, is currently out of circulation with Covid.
Our Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, our Chancellor of the Exchequer and our Health Minister are all now missing out on "freedom day", as they need to self-isolate with many other government officials in Whitehall.
What kind of madness is this, where we throw out our protection, just as the third wave grabs Great Britain by the throat?
Is this herd immunity, or the acceptance of collateral damage, where a certain amount of the population is considered expendable?
It is widely considered that in abandoning face masks, large group management, hand sanitizers and social distancing, that the government can encourage this third wave to strike at a more convenient time, i.e. during the summer school holidays, instead of September when everyone is back to work.
The world's press are quite rightly aghast at our actions, especially as this will almost certainly lead to many more mutations as infection rates soar. We already know that the Delta variant is partially resistant to vaccines and all that is required now, is for the strain to improve upon itself and become fully resistant and we will be right back to where we started 18 months ago.
Of course we need to be able to move around and enjoy the summer as much as possible, but is it really such a hardship to keep ourselves and others safe by using the most basic protection, such as a mask?
The Government seeks to steer the path of a virus that they do not understand and it is our health that they are gambling with.
Wear a mask, keep your distance when possible, wash your hands often. This virus does not respect the boundaries of your social life and this is going to get a lot worse as the virus evolves and mutates due to an irresponsible dereliction of duty by the English Government.
- Editorial by Torric
