I was in Germany when Boris Johnson announced his plan to lift all Covid restrictions in the United Kingdom. Whilst we all saw it coming, our perception of the virus has suddenly shifted from caution to frivolity.
Shifted mentalities
Living in a country where not only masks are a requirement, but vaccination passports are your key to having a life, returning to the UK was a real shock. As I am writing this, I am sitting in isolation thinking somehow, I have done something wrong in testing positive. But why? Thinking back to our “new normal” of days of yore, people felt empathy and sent well-wishes, “oh poor you”, “stay safe”. But now, it feels as if you are almost punished for catching Covid in a country with no restrictions.
A few weeks ago, I was all set to fly home, to see my boyfriend and spend a couple of days in Suffolk. But covid had other plans for us and my boyfriend tested positive. On calling the hotel, I was informed that we were not eligible for a refund as the new (lack of) rules had set-in that day in the UK. But what kind of message does this present? Not only are we being punished for having Covid but punished for NOT spreading it around the country. We may be coming to the end of the pandemic in the UK but things are far from over across the Channel.
Britain and its other
Admittedly, it took me a while to adapt to the strict covid restrictions in Bavaria. The original 3G rules of vaccinated, recovered and tested and obligatory FFP2 masks in all indoor locations were certainly a change from the English rules at the time. But I must say, I have grown used to walking out of my apartment and working in safe environments where we have a moral understanding of a positive test meaning don’t come to work! If we skip back to Boris’ no regulation zone, I have certainly noticed a change in mentality between pre and post-regulation Britons.
From the outbreak, Boris has wanted to deviate from his European counterparts. We were late enforcing travel bans and entering lockdown, we had constant U-turns in safety regulations and now we are one of the first to return to “normality”. All this has me thinking about the politics of Covid. Was safety ever the priority or was this Boris’ opportunity to spout his Brexit paraphernalia once more?
From the start, Boris has aspired to be his generation’s Churchill; from the way he comports himself to the words he speaks. But even before the war in Ukraine broke out, Covid was his World War Two and a chance for him to show off his brand new Brexit Britain and we all know how that turned out. The question now is, how will he fare in the fight for his own political career that Covid and Brexit have brought to its knees?
Emily Bird
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