It’s Mother’s Day in the UK on Sunday (27th in case you’d forgotten and have someone you want/need to lavish love on, or just a card). This tells me it’s almost 2 years on since that first broadcast to the nation of our current PM interrupting our evening telly watching with news of a national short and sharp lockdown to keep us all safe from this new novel Coronavirus/Covid 19. Two flipping years. I remember it as being just after Mother’s Day as it was then some time before I saw my mum up close and personal again.
So, two years on, and I can’t help but think we’re now in the most confusing time comms wise and there’s been some stiff competition this past 24 months.
I would describe where we are now as a pick’n’mix.
The strategy all comes under the ‘Living with Covid’ plan. We’ve been living with Covid for 2 years haven’t we?
This moving on/dealing with it/living with it mainly seems to involve scrapping mandatory everything – tests, covid passports and the need to self isolate. The result, thus far, appears to have led to confusion AND, unsurprisingly a rise in new cases resulting in cancelled appointments, closed schools and disruption to services, as well as some press pieces on those businesses who are accused of putting staff and/or customers at risk with their approach (airlines, supermarkets, high street stores to name a few).
I genuinely feel for those writing up contingency plans and policies for managing this phase as it’s tough to get it right without proper backup – backup being crystal clear advice.
Just to highlight the confusing nature of things I have just had my first ever wellbeing doorknock, which went something like ‘Hi, I’m xxx from the council, just doing a wellbeing check, to make sure you have been OK during Coronavirus.’ He was making sure I’d been OK for the past 2 years? AND he didn’t/couldn’t/wouldn’t come anywhere near me/the door/in, and I don’t blame him. Anecdatally (deliberate spelling in case you were about to correct me, as I know anecdata is not data) I know more people with Covid now than at any other point in the past 2 years.
We WILL come out of this. No, I don’t think we should have free tests for all forever. No, I don’t think we should have to maintain social distancing ad infinitum (as much as I personally like it!). No, I don’t think we should have to mask up and show a vaccine passport forever either. BUT we do need clarity, consistency and common sense and not mass confusion.