Feest Isolation Days – 12 January 2021
That this is the worst time for the pandemic since it began is no longer in doubt. There are 30,000 patients in hospital beds in the NHS and that is up from just over 20,000 at the peak of the pandemic last year. Yet the measures to keep people home are much more lax, and there are those who are clearly flouting the rules, flexing them so that they can do what they wish. Professor Chris Whitty was on BBC Radio Four this morning, speaking on his own for the first time since all this began. The right man is in the top job. He told us all in no uncertain terms, there doesn’t need to be a tightening of rules, they just need to be followed. People need to stay home. His calm and reassuring voice delivering this message is ideal. We all have come to admire him. Several companies have created a mug with his mug so he can sit with us on our desks all day long.
His “next slide please” sums it all up so well. No “Stay at Home”, no “Safe Distance” or “Masks”. Instead, this most respected of men is lauded by the simple and clear phrase, “next slide please”. That’s what we hear him say at Briefings and his clear and honest delivery of information is appreciated. I plan to order a mug! Wonderful that the Chief Medical Officer is our new national treasure. Both Whitty here and Fauci in America are the people we trust the most in these times. Let us also remember that the women of Science are also trusted, respected and greatly admired…the leader of the vaccine team in Oxford, Sarah Gilbert springs to mind.
The vaccine is here, the end will be in months, not years, as Chris Whitty tells us but we have to all do our bit now to save lives. It’s simple. Don’t make unnecessary contact with others.
In America, the fallout from the riots and seditious acts of the Trump mob continue to be felt. All eyes will be on the Congress to see if they can truly make the man in charge accountable for his actions. In the meantime, there is a man who deserves to be lauded and applauded for his quick thinking actions on the day. Eugene Goodman, a black Capitol Police Officer, helped Senators escape from the mob. Carrying only his nightstick, and totally on his own, he directed the rioters away from the doors of the Senate, sending the mobsters away from those inside. They believed him when he told them where they needed to go to get into the Senate. Sending them exactly in the wrong direction no doubt saved lives.
Remember Chris Whitty says we only have months more of this, not years! Stay safe. And enjoy!
With love,
Kathy x