It’s been tough, but there really is light at the end of this tunnel
Could it really be coming to an end? The implication from the health secretary Sajid Javid’s speech yesterday was that Britain might genuinely be coming out the other side of a nearly two-year pandemic which has disrupted so much. Perhaps it is time to take stock – and though it’s not overly British to do so, to congratulate ourselves for fighting tooth and nail to get through what has been not just a physically but mentally draining period.
For all the descriptions of ‘workers on the frontline’ and Blitz spirit, this has not been a war. But it has been tough – bloody tough – for everybody. Life’s horizons have been drastically shrunk. Jobs threatened, finances stretched, holidays and treats cancelled. That so many businesses have survived is testament, yes, to financial help – but mainly to sheer hard work and an unwillingness to give up.
So if we look to 2022 now with more optimism, and to the creativity and collaboration and collegiality that come with seeing your colleagues on something other than a laptop screen, we can also look back and learn lessons if further variants emerge in the months and years to come. Not least that the strictest restrictions should be avoided in all but the most extreme circumstances.
We know about the waiting lists for non-Covid-19 issues in the NHS, the rise in mental health complaints, the awful stories of families and friends being kept apart in occasionally the most desperate times. But more than that, some of the joy has been sucked out of life, and our city. It is better when it’s buzzing. It needs us to fill it for it to come alive.
Some will feel uncomfortable about coming back to work more often, of course. Businesses will need to be flexible and understanding. But as people come back to the Square Mile and give it its vibrancy back, let us hope that we can put the dark days of abandoned streets and shuttered stores behind us.
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