We’d hoped the pandemic would turn us into a better, more caring society but, argues Brian Reade, if another virus forced us into lockdown, we’d be less likely to repel it
Five years ago tomorrow the dishevelled figure of Boris Johnson appeared on our TV screens ordering us to lock ourselves away until further notice.
“Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives” he told us, and the overwhelming majority of us obeyed as we believed personal sacrifice was needed for the survival of our country, regardless of the personal pain it would cause.
Shame Johnson didn’t see it that way. Or the dozens working in Downing Street who decided that rules like social distancing were for the little people as they grabbed another bottle of bubbly from the communal fridge and boogied the night away. Even on the eve of the Queen’s husband’s funeral.
Five years on, I’ve been trying to think of the good things that came out of those 16 months of on-off lockdowns, during which Covid claimed more than 230,000 lives, devastated the health of thousands more and cost taxpayers £400billion.
Well, thankfully, the air kiss has died a death, we think twice about putting our hands on public handrails, and many of us are happy to be working more from home.
But the fundamental shifts we hoped for – a new communal spirit where everyone looked out for the poor and vulnerable, and front-line carers, not celebrities, were seen as the real heroes in our midst – never materialised. Look at the queues at foodbanks, the honours lists or a carer’s pay packet.
Overall, we collectively learned little. Britain still has one of the lowest ratios of hospital beds in Europe, and we still rely heavily on foreign vaccines as we haven’t expanded our own capacity.
Worse still, the political class now seems more remote and contemptible than it ever has. Covid bred a dangerous cynicism that threatens democracy.
While most of us played by the rules, attending virtual funerals when loved ones died, plenty of the rule-makers didn’t. Which makes you wonder how many of us would obey such draconian rules in future.
We saw brazen criminality at the highest level that cost us billions. Yet not only were there few fraud convictions, sackings or expulsions from office, the likes of shamed former Health Secretary Matt Hancock believes his behaviour was “impeccable”, his disgraced VIP lanes were essential, and he’d do it all again.
But would young people so easily give up their freedoms to live, love and learn, especially as those whose mental health suffered were later demonised as shirkers and fakers?
Would people donate £39million to another Captain Tom figure after seeing how badly his own daughter tarnished his legacy?
Probably the most damaging change in the past five years has been the growth in conspiracy theorists, fuelled by online bots, who have preyed on people’s scepticism. In June 2023, almost a quarter of UK adults told a study they believed Covid itself was a hoax.
And although it clearly wasn’t a hoax, evidence is mounting that China lied to us about the source of the outbreak with experts claiming it came from a laboratory not a wet market.
So if Keir Starmer ordered us tomorrow to lock ourselves at home, sadly many thousands would take to the streets instead.
And worryingly, our enemies, who have the capacity to spread a deadly virus while fuelling disinformation, know this.
Five years on, if Covid taught us anything it’s that the next time a killer virus emerges we will be less, not more, likely to repel it.