Editorial: The old year was a reality check for those who believed there was a simple answer to the coronavirus crisis. Don’t be surprised if the new one is the same
The old year was a reality check for those who believed there was a simple answer to the coronavirus crisis. Don’t be surprised if the new one is the same
‘If England comes through the holiday period infection spike, it will be thanks to the public, not to the prime minister.’‘If England comes through the holiday period infection spike, it will be thanks to the public, not to the prime minister.’Last modified on Thu 30 Dec 2021 19.
An evolving and sometimes stop-start combination of national restrictions, individual behaviours and repeat vaccinations has kept the worst ravages under some control. Yet the spike in Omicron cases and this week’s preparation for new hospitalisations show that the crisis is very finely balanced. As we bid farewell to the old year on Friday, it ought to be clear to all but the most dogmatic ideologues that 2022 will not be a shining new virus-free era.
Boris Johnson always shies away from this truth. He dislikes giving bad news even when he is popular, and especially when he is not, as at present. He pretends that simple solutions are just around the corner, even when, as now, he can no longer count on his own party’s support to implement them. That is why he has bet the farm on simply getting through the Christmas and new year season with a combination of modest and potentially contradictory policies but without bringing the NHS to its knees.
Just as he did earlier on in the pandemic, Mr Johnson has launched his latest policy with another airy promise that he knows he cannot keep. In times gone by he promised a world-beating
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