The United Kingdom passed a grisly milestone yesterday as official figures revealed over 100,000 people have died from coronavirus since the pandemic struck last March. Other figures indicate the death toll is much higher. Either way, it’s an awful statistic. That’s the fifth highest in the world and it is estimated it could reach 150,000 before we are past the peak. This is a nation that prides itself on having one of the best health services in the world. A health service now on its knees.
Yesterday the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, gave a press briefing where he maintained his government had done everything in its power to tackle the crisis. He was very reluctant to concede any mistakes had been made despite a furious reaction to this remark by large sections of the press and public. What about delayed lockdowns, failure to protect care homes, lack of personal protection equipment, not closing down borders, an inadequately resourced health service? The list went on and on.
I don’t envy the man his job and this post is not intended as a hatchet job on him or his government. The pressure must be incredible and he has worked incredibly long hours making huge decisions on a daily basis that impact the lives of millions. He was also struck down early in the pandemic and had to spend time in an intensive care unit. He later thanked the doctors and nurses who saved his life as heroes and named his newborn son after two of the doctors who cared for him.
We all make mistakes in life and hindsight is indeed an exact science. I’ve no doubt I’d have melted into a huge puddle of anxiety and stress had I been asked to handle the national response to such a massive and largely unexpected crisis. It would challenge the most confident and competent of minds. It has humbled us and many realise that, at the end of the day, our best laid plans mean nothing when the world decides otherwise. We are no longer so certain, so sure of anything. We have lost control.
Even the ridiculous minority who still maintain this is all a hoax cannot deny it has impacted their lives. What we all must realise is that none of us are infallible, we all make mistakes and must learn from them. It’s called life. Repeating the same errors over and over again is unacceptable, as is refusing to admit failings when they are staring you straight in the eye. Admitting you were wrong and taking positive steps to change requires courage. Even for a world leader.
Black Thoughts 
I think the only hoax here is when some of the greatest minds cannot get on the same page and deliver solid, practical guidance on this virus. We have a CDC calling for all schools to open at full capacity while our numbers in my town are the highest they have been. Somewhere there needs to be a middle ground that we all can accept and live with that minimizes risk without robbing people of some fundamental freedoms. For a society that is so proud of the information super-highway, there sure is a lot of misinformation being disseminated. Yet, the common sense factor seems to be at an all time low. I get so frustrated, really.
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Yes, I understand. The U.K. government is being very cautious this time. I think it’s the right approach.
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The ego is man’s greatest flaw. Praying things improve for us all, friend. Your posts are always inspiring 🙂
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Thank you very much. Appreciated 😊
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I understand that Boris has had a hard job and has faced challenges no other Prime Minister has but he has done a terrible job in handling this pandemic. I am not angry that he has made mistakes, any prime manager would have when faced with a crisis like this, i am angry that he hasn’t learnt from his mistakes
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yep I’ll say and I live in Australia where the borders are shut early.
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Yes. I can relate to all of that. Thank you 😊
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Humility–if only it were a trait we all had at birth.
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If only indeed.
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So very sad
I worry for my family 😓
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We all do. Hang in there 🙂
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Biden is realizing what it’s like to follow a leader that had no program or plan for the disease. Thank God you don’t live in America where it is estimated that over 436000 have died, 80,000 in January so far, and we still have 4 more days. And now it is estimated514000 deaths by Valentine’s Day. It is a world-wide nightmare with incompetent men and women unable to admit they need help and who don’t seem to care about people dying. How they sleep at night is beyond me, and I pray for the new presidential administration which has a booger bear of a job following a do-nothing president.
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I’ve been watching the rising figures in the USA with horror. So very sad and I agree with everything you say 😐
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The election of stupid people into serious positions of responsibility is mankind’s greatest flaw.
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Yup. Agreed.
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Einstein says that “Insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” It is interesting to me that New Zealand did so well by shutting down everything right away and mandating compliance. Sometimes our leaders are afraid to make the big decisions. I can understand that. It is a tremendous responsibility.
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Yes. I agree but our political leaders have to do better.
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For sure!
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I hope that this virus situation improves. Every leader, I hope, is doing their best.
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Thank you. There’s slow improvement here 🙂
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