Life in Blighty is now madness or caution

As soon as the hot weather appears the people of this country climb into their cars and head for the beaches in their millions, packing every dot of sand or pebble with white/turning red bodies, ice creams in each hand and bat-and-ball ever ready. Twas ever thus and now with the so-called Freedom Day here, as well as baking hot weather and school holidays beginning, the beach brigade is going to be horrendously huge. But the madness that takes over the people of this country when the sun comes out is being matched by a new madness - the end of official lockdown of any kind and the end of social distancing and compulsory masks have created a sort of wild yearning for what can be remembered as normal life. So night clubs opened at one minute past midnight last night and within seconds they were packed. Everywhere is packed, clubs, pubs, beaches, roads, the underground. In between all those carousing and shedding all restraints are those who think it is premature and worrying and potentially fatal. The cautious brigade is almost as big and you can see that by just casting your eye on the average shopping street. Many people are entering shops with masks on and even walking on the pavements with their faces covered. So the country is becoming divided between the mad and the cautious. How it is all going to end is impossible to tell but what is now happening in Tokyo with the Olympic Games should provide a hint of what we here have in store. More and more athletes and support staff are getting Covid positive and having to isolate. Soon perhaps there will be more isolating or withdrawing than taking part. Then continuing with the Games will be a farce. Hopefully not because it will be a tragedy for the thousands of athletes who have trained so hard for this moment. But when people gather in great numbers whether it be in the hotels and locker rooms in Tokyo or in the night clubs in London and Manchester, Covid will sweep in and take its victims.