This time last year,
the cars were arriving to drop students off at their accommodations to resume
at university, it was a pandemic disaster for them in so many ways. The cars have now
returned to take the students back home. The holiday season is now upon us.
One student, a lady probably
on a dare took was about to go for a ride with her friend. They hired the
hostel bicycles and the first rode away whilst the one I observed needed a
different kind of dexterity to have a riding start on a bicycle uphill. She was
unsuccessful, that she wheeled the bicycle up to flatter and more level ground.
Signs of a lie
Further on, it was a
deceptive fig tree moment as I saw a large shopfront sign that suggested Caribbean
and West African foods and goods. Out of curiosity, I crossed the road, donned
my mask and pushed at the door, it was locked. Soon, an Asian lady came to the
door, it was locked because she had to go to the toilet.
Obviously, I told her
why I had come to the shop, and she immediately said there was none of that
fare in the shop, the sign had to come down. How I suppressed the Jesus anger
in me not to curse like he did the fig tree that appeared to be quite leafy but
without fruit eludes me, I did not even take umbrage at having wasted my time,
I brought drinks before leaving. [Bible
Gateway: Mark 11: 12-15]
That sign however
should have come down a long time ago. Stepping out, I faced a Caribbean street
food truck with jerk chicken and all that. I cannot say it is suited to my
palate.
It was only two weekends
ago on a Saturday just into the second kilometre of my 7-kilometre walk to the
banks of the River Mersey ensconced by the Chorlton Water Park and Sale Water
Park that I saw arrivals to the student halls of the Manchester Metropolitan
University. Young men and women brought over by their parents to begin a new
phase in their lives.
Then, I wondered
about how my city was changing as if we had now found a cosy arrangement with
the pandemic where life could somewhat return to normal. Life did return to a
kind of normalcy for the freshers’ week, for each time I went out for a walk
there were crowds and groups, hardly social distancing, revelling into the
night, it was concerning.
Neither here nor
there
Then at the beginning
of the week, the government began backpedalling on the lifting of
restrictions, their urging that we return to our offices was less so, we were
now to work from home as much as possible, the whole saga was becoming more
comedic and tragic than how the Grand Old Duke of York marshalled his men
up and down the hill till they were stuck in the middle, being neither up nor
down. At least they were receiving clear directions even if the purpose was
unclear.
[]
On a personal level,
health is wealth, to a country in the times of a pandemic, public health is
national wealth. The latter cannot precede the former. The bungling
administration of Boris Johnson who when he resigned as Foreign Secretary in
Theresa May’s cabinet suggested there was a failure of statecraft, in his case,
there is a total lack of imagination.
Believing in human
ingenuity
Without assuring
public health, the national wealth will suffer and all efforts to protect the economy would be exorbitant and consequently fruitless.
We have to believe in
human ingenuity that when all things are equal with public health, regardless of
how the economy has been battered, it can be revived. History has shown how war
has damaged economies and the end of the war ushered in growth and productivity
through some pain, but the trajectory is always upwards.
The failure to
address the public health emergency with competence and strategy has left us in
the throes of a second wave that would be more damaging than the first and
possibly leave the economy in a more sickened state than if things were properly
dealt with in the first instance.
A student life halted
The students that
returned to campus life have somehow met up with the Coronavirus with 127 of
them testing positive with COVID-19 leading to the self-isolation of about
1,700 students in Cambridge Hall and Birley Campus, just within 2 kilometres of
my residence.
Their self-isolation
is to prevent them from spreading it in the community and further down the line, if
this is not contained, there is a likelihood that students will not be allowed
to return home for Christmas, just to prevent community contact spreading. [BBC News: Covid
outbreak: Manchester Metropolitan University students in lockdown]
Can’t blame the
students
From another
perspective, the students have been short-changed and scammed, universities
opened to justify their tuition fees, the hostels opened to keep the landlords
afloat through their justifiably collecting rent. Now, they are stuck in their
rooms, they can neither attend classes nor return home. It was a catastrophe in
the making for which the government would shift the blame to the victims of
this pandemic, the students in this case and the public in the general surge in
infections nationally.
Whereas, it is
without a doubt that the UK government is totally responsible for the mishandling
of this pandemic and that is why we have the highest number of deaths due to
COVID-19 in Europe. We cannot spin that any other way than say it with conviction
as the incontrovertible truth.
Everyone for themselves
and for all
On our streets, one
thing is evident, the virus is invisible, it is pervasive, it is spreading and
the need to maintain social distancing, wear masks, avoid gatherings, wash
hands and so on remains a matter of personal safety and self-preservation.
There is no telling where in this city of three large universities there are
other pockets of infection. Within the week of opening primary and secondary
schools, 15 schools were shut with the pupils asked to self-quarantine.
My other concern is
how from outside the UK, other countries might be watching things go awry and
so place us on a restricted list of travel as both a destination and place of
origin. It is obvious that Boris Johnson and his big tent of circus clowns will
never get to grips with this pandemic, we as individuals must save ourselves.
