“There is a kind of bluff here.
A heroic heroism like a soldier who is not afraid of the virus
The general view here is
Get used to coexistence with the virus, and continue to live a normal life.”
Members of Brighton Swimming Club (the oldest swimming club in England) set foot into winter waters at sunrise at Brighton Pier, England on the morning of December 2, 2020.
The members are unwilling to wear wetsuits to protect themselves from the cold. They prefer to slowly adapt to the cold seawater.
UK pandemic situation:
Fear on the one hand, indifference on the other
January 8, London Mayor Sadiq Khan declared London a “major emergency”.
London receives an average of 8,000 medical emergency calls every day, and the emergency vehicle waits for hours outside the hospital to obtain emergency beds for patients.
Vin Diwakar, head of London medical for the NHS, warned that in the worst case, the city would still have a gap of 2,000 beds in late January, even if the Nightingale square cabin hospital opened.
Because many colleagues are infected with the novel coronavirus or quarantined, coupled with the surge in the number of patients and deaths every day, many front-line health care workers have also been in a state of mental and physical overdrawn, and are full of despair because they can’t see a way out of the pandemic.
“Keep calm and move forward”
However, on the one hand, there is a race against time between life and death in the hospital, and on the other hand, people live as usual, and the impact of the pandemic cannot even be seen.
When you walk on the street, you will find that there are still only a few people wearing masks outdoors. When you pass the door of the coffee shop, you will find that there are still many people queuing up to buy drinks and food.
When you meet acquaintances say hello and chat, they have not taken any protective measures. When you pass by the supermarket gate, you will see many people eager to take off their masks as soon as they leave the supermarket.
When you pass the park, you will find people talking and laughing calmly.
While some people pay attention to social distancing, children step on mud puddles, dig tree holes, pile up leaves, climb big trees, or chase pigeons and squirrels without any protection. There is often a long line in front of the park’s commissary. Adults and children buy coffee or candy and enjoy it freely. On weekends, the park is even more lively and crowded.
On January 4, as the mutant virus aggravated the pandemic and overburdened the British health system, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had to announce the start of a new round of blockade again and demanded that people should stay at home for no special reasons.
However, the lockdown order does not prevent people from going for walks and exercising in parks and streets on a sunny weekend.
Seeing all this, you will doubt that the terrible coronavirus data are from another world. On the one hand, it is about the fear of disease and death, and on the other hand, it is about life and daily indifference.
The British attitude to the coronavirus pandemic may be a common way for the country and people to deal with the crisis.
According to the analysis of The Economist magazine, this may reflect the typical British character: low-key, brave and tenacious. Such a character can be reflected in many aspects.
For example, during World War II, the British can still drink tea leisurely in the bombing of the Luftwaffe; look for intact books in the bombed library, stand calmly in the ruins and read, turning a blind eye to the roaring fighter overhead.
The memory of World War II may have lost care for the complexity and diversity of human nature because it is too old, but the slogan “Keep calm and move forward” used to inspire the people that year also reflects the British spirit of refusing to give in the face of difficulties and has become a mindset: Nothing happens abnormally.
But on the other hand, this attitude of keeping business as usual no matter what happens is big has also made Britain pay a heavy price in the face of the coronavirus pandemic this time.
The world-recognized effective way to fight against the coronavirus requires British habitual changes, adjustments to their inherent lives and cognitions, and in some ways, British, who have always been known for etiquette, must be out of their comfort zones and do things that appear “uncivil” in normal times.
For example, in order to maintain social distancing, don’t give others a door in public; in order to prevent the spread of the virus, masks must be worn to cover your face. This is difficult for Britons who regard respect for etiquette and interaction as the core ties of social relations.
Unable to go to the bar to have a drink and chat with friends, such days seem to be boring, without communication with others, people seem to feel at a loss.
The necessary measures to fight against the pandemic have had a sharp collision with Britain’s long-term sociocultural foundation, making the British feel that in order to maintain the social and cultural atmosphere, they can do whatever they want to violate the personal sacrifices needed to fight the pandemic.
“There’s a kind of bluff here, a bravery like a soldier who is not afraid of the virus.” “The prevailing view here is to get used to living with the virus and continue to live a normal life,” said Selma Dabbagh, a Palestinian writer living in London, who lives by the country, who lives in London, broke as a bystander.
May 30, 2020 On a sunny weekend, the blockade was gradually lifted and groups of six were allowed to go out for parties, and Brighton Beach was full of festive atmosphere.
After a long lockdown in spring, many people (mostly young people) go to the seaside for some fun to relax.
The most gloomy and rainy January
However, the right-wing British Conservative government with a Brexit mission has made repeated strategic mistakes in the face of the challenge of the global coronavirus pandemic, which not only makes Britain, the most advanced country in global pandemic management, into one of the deadliest coronavirus deaths in the world, but also leads to the rise of social trust.
Steps are missing. People are also disappointed with the extreme discontinuity of the British government’s policies in the fight against the pandemic. As individuals, they are unable to work together to implement the government’s decisions.
When the outbreak of China resolutely abandoned temporary interests and used Wuhan to announce that the novel coronavirus had posed a serious challenge to mankind, Britain did not have any warning at all.
For the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in Asia, it showed a sense of superiority of “no matter, hanging high”, as if the British people’s bones Being different will enable their countries to be safe in the global pandemic.
At the same time, the British media and government compared the novel coronavirus to a new influenza virus and put forward the controversial theory of “herd immunity”.
In the initial coping strategy, the importance of hand washing was only emphasized, but the protective effect of masks was not recognized.
Prime Minister Johnson’s experience of contracting the novel coronavirus did not prompt him to take more resolute, effective and continuous measures to control the situation, which eventually led to a complete loss of trust in the government.
The discussion of “life” and “life” brought about by the economic blockade is also fermenting in British society. Finally, rhetoric in favor of opening up the economy as soon as possible has the upper hand, and even a considerable number of people support the theory of “herd immunity”.
Many people believe that if the blockade is too long, the systemic risk of the economy will increase and the number of company closures or layoffs will have serious consequences for the overall development of society and individual interests.
However, Professor Devi Sridhar, a famous scientist who is the chairman of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, pointed out: “It is a fundamental mistake that the British government has been treating COVID-19 as an influenza virus rather than a SARS-like virus.
This Failures not only leave individual lives and the entire health care system unprotected, but also cost the national economy.”
With the worsening of the pandemic, the number of confirmed cases a day has soared to nearly 60,000, and the number of deaths has increased by more than 1,000 every day.
At present, the British are facing a new round of more serious pandemic in the most gloomy and rainy month. Although the vaccine has begun to be injected in priority groups, it is a race between viruses and vaccines, and the prospect of defeating opponents in the short term is not optimistic.
Anthony Costello, a former director of the World Health Organization (WHO) and professor at University College London, said: “The UK must now learn from Asian countries and adopt stricter measures to explicitly require masks, maintain two meters of social distance, and close young children.
Gardens and religious places. We need to completely control the mutant virus, otherwise the virus will continue to mutate quickly to the extent of successfully fighting against the vaccine, and then we will really be in big trouble.”
Under the surface of all calmness, it is the British government’s inability to resolutely formulate and implement a continuous and effective anti-pandemic policy, resulting in the people being able to constantly make their own judgments and decisions on various problems and situations; it is also the people themselves who bear the consequences.
However, in the face of a rare global pandemic in history, the strength of individuals is very limited, and the British may not be able to do much except for the customary “keep calm and move forward”.
