The Song Remains the Same

In the sense that the garden looks good under a blue sky and the hot news topic is all about the proposed lockdown easing in June.
But it’s not as simple as that. The garden is actually quite different. A whole new deck - and one that is actually usable for a change. A lot less foliage in evidence, due to the bad weather in the last few weeks. I did think that the tree had been killed off by my radical pruning in the autumn, but the last fortnight has actually seen some leaves appearing, so maybe all is not lost.
And what we’re talking about this time round in the news is whether or not we can go ahead with the removal of all restrictions on 21st June. Last year it was only about non essential shops opening up - pubs, gyms and sport still remained off limits. At least this year, all those things have been permitted for a few weeks now.
But the recent rise in new cases - especially Indian variant cases - may yet cause the 21st June easing to be delayed. It’s a balancing act between damaging the economy further by keeping things closed or risking the NHS being swamped by opening up too soon.
The biggest difference between this year and last is, of course, the vaccine. Last year it was still being developed - I’m not sure they had even started any live trials - but now I am double jabbed and well over half the adult population have had at least one dose.
And it does seem to be having a positive effect. In spite of the rise in cases, hospitalisations and deaths remain low. The evidence would seem to support the theory that those who have been vaccinated do not transmit it as readily and there is definitely a trend emerging that those who are in hospital now are - by and large - those who have not been vaccinated.
So, it looks like the vaccine is the key to successfully beating this pandemic. As the rollout continues, let’s hope the numbers of deaths and hospitalisations continue to fall.
Here’s to another year of blipping!