Have Local Authorities Lost Confidence In The Government?

I'm not usually shocked by tweets but this one floored me. While politicians often slug it out over ideology, there's usually a degree of trust and cooperation between local authorities and central government. This tweet indicates that it's breaking down. Why is that?

NEW: Bury Council says it will advise all schools in the authority not to reopen from June 1st - following similar decisions from Liverpool and Hartlepool in recent days @GranadaReports https://t.co/m3dfHyvtcU

— Hannah Miller (@hannahITV) May 18, 2020

The idea that local authorities can't take the Government seriously is alarming, but it shouldn't surprise us. The venal characters that run the Government have suggested a version of herd immunity that basically means killing off the old, sick, and weak. In theory. In practice we sometimes see healthy people dying from the Coronavirus.

Social distancing saves lives

Whether we like it or not, social distancing will have to continue, along with enhanced hygiene. I wear a mask since it makes sense to me to treat everyone as potential carriers. With its long incubation period and asymptomatic transmission, there's no way of telling who is infected and who isn't. Meanwhile, our failure to properly adhere to social distancing has consequences; people are still dying from the Coronavirus. The only reason lockdown became necessary is because people would not stay apart.

Sceptics are super-spreaders

The restrictions of the lockdown regime are causing some people to push back. They're mostly right-leaning and sceptical of authority in general. The trouble with this is that, instead of questioning to get an answer, they're excusing their lack of concern for anyone but themselves. So it is that stupidity abounds as people deny reality itself because it doesn't suit them.

...one woman said: “I’m here because I don’t believe in the lockdown, I don’t believe in the virus one bit, I don’t believe in social distancing, I think it’s ridiculous.”

She described keeping healthy people indoors as “tyranny” and added: “They’re just enforcing powers ready to eventually produce mandatory vaccines.”

She said she would refuse to take any vaccine that was produced to combat Covid-19 as she does not believe in the virus.

And she said she had serious concerns about Bill Gates’ involvement in the development of a vaccine.

“He doesn’t even know how to sort a virus out on a computer, he knows nothing about medical. All he does is he’s got money. No vaccine of Bill Gates is coming anywhere near me,” she said.

Another woman, who asked not to be named, said she was in the park to protest against the lockdown which she described as “ridiculous”.

“The numbers on the media, on the mainstream news, are absolutely blown out of proportion,” she said.

She said she did not believe that scientists could come up with an effective vaccine and added that she believed there is a virus, but she doesn’t think it is any worse than influenza. - People gather to protest against plans for a coronavirus vaccine and the government's handling of lockdown, by Beth Abbit for the Manchester Evening News 16/05/2020

So much stupidity and ignorance, so little time. This is, as I've said, a phenomenon mostly confined to right-wing libertarians. They don't just state it, they act on it, gathering in defiance of guidelines meant to save them. The trouble with their denialism is that it won't just endanger them, it will endanger other people, too. The worst of it is that, if they succeed in influencing people in positions of authority, they could kill or seriously harm many more. Unfortunately, our government is right-wing libertarian, hence the lack of PPE and the reluctance to lock down until it was too late. What amuses me is that the people they have cultivated are sceptical of them because they are the Government. It would be funny if it wasn't killing people known by people I know.

Stick to the science

Any decision the Government takes and any advice it gives must be based on science. The idea that kids are less likely to get sick and die of the virus doesn't mean they won't get sick or die at all and there's also the risk that they'll pick up the virus at school and take it home, infecting the adults they live with. Therefore, it's hard to take Michael Gove's assertion that it's safe to reopen schools seriously. The evidence has yet to confirm this.

Which brings me back to the lede; local authorities lack trust in the Government because the scientific data doesn't reassure them that it's safe to reopen schools. It's also impractical to enforce social distancing among kids. You can't. So, then, if kids can carry the Coronavirus and spread it, I'm not overly concerned about the prospect of them dying from it, I'm concerned about them bringing it home and killing Mummy or Daddy. The science in question is not mere virology but epidemiology as well. The Government, however, is more concerned with economics, forgetting that overwhelming the hospitals with dead and dying patients, not to mention having millions of workers off sick, would have as detrimental an effect on the economy as continuing lockdown until December.

What can we do?

First of all, inform yourself. Learn as much as you can from reputable scientific sources. You know, the ones that are responsible for treating, curing, and in some cases eliminating diseases altogether. Scepticism has its place but this is as part of an enquiry to get at the truth, not to shout other people down or to push a particular narrative. Truth is that which stands; vaccines either killed off smallpox and rinderpest and eliminated leprosy, polio and other horrible diseases in Europe and America or they didn't.

Scepticism should only ever be a tool to get at the truth, not an excuse to disregard information you find inconvenient.

Finally, keep an eye out for updates in guidance. Coronavirus can be managed, but only if we stick to the guidelines provided; stay at home, keep clean, and if you do go out, maintain a distance of at least 6ft from other people. If you wear a mask, do it properly. It must fit closely over your nose and mouth and you should be careful how you put it on and take it off.