As scientists warn of a new mutation of the Coronavirus, in the post-lockdown world, where the vaccination programme appears to have brought the worst effects of the virus under control, are there any positives coming out of the pandemic?
Paul Whitelock and his wife Rita caught the virus in January 2021, and suffered quite badly. There were no injections back then. Paul stood and watched as his wife nearly perished at the hands of the Spanish Health Service, who didn’t know what they were doing two and a half years ago. They had to send her to Germany, the country of her birth, for months, in order to get her well.
Two and a half years later
Both have been left with post-Covid issues, but at least they are alive and grateful for that.
But are there any positives about the worst pandemic to hit the world since the flu epidemic of 1918?
Definitely:
1. Covid-19 ultimately did for BoJo, Boris Johnson, the disgraced former prime minister of the UK who thought it was OK to break his own rules. The country is unlikely to see a worse leader ever. For this writer at least, a massive positive.
2. Covid-19 revolutionised work practices when the government insisted that people not in the front line had to work from home. Now the same politicians, eg Jacob Rees-Mogg, want everybody back in the office. Thankfully, many are resisting this, as they think they are more productive, waste less time and money on commuting and some companies are saving money by shedding or cutting back on their expensive office space. Working from home is another huge positive.
3. Being sick with the 
Coronavirus or losing family members made many people take stock of their lives and adopt a different outlook. Definitely a positive.
4. For a while the Coronavirus caused us to improve our hygiene, particularly hand-washing. I fear people have become complacent and have backslid. I am astonished at the number of men who leave public lavatories without washing their shitty mitts. A potential positive missed.
5. On a personal note, Covid “saved my life”. It kicked me out of an eight-year-long depression and got me doing things again. The greatest positive of all.
So, we don’t know what the future holds, but I fear as a people, we have gotten complacent rather too quickly.
© Paul Whitelock
Tags: BoJo, Boris Johnson, Coronavirus, Covid-19, handwashing, hygiene, Jacob Rees-Mogg, lockdown, Pablo de Ronda, pandemic, post-lockdown, vaccination