During the past seven days, seemingly spontaneous protests have erupted demanding the end to government-ordered lockdowns that have shuttered most businesses and public spaces and all schools, ordered citizens to stay at home (e.g., “shelter-in-place“), and established strict guidelines for “social distancing“, hand washing, and mask wearing. Unemployment soars, economies are wrecked, and millions of people are sick or dying—all because of the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)—also known as COVID-19—pandemic and drastic measures to slow its spread.
Citizens’ frustrations are understandable, particularly given that because economic and social isolation is working, overwhelmed emergency rooms and ICUs or the number of casualties are below worst projections. Accompanying self-titled “The New Gardener“, Neil Moralee has a message for those looking for a return to the old normal.
He writes:
As we are all enduring Coronavirus ‘lockdown’, some jobs around the house are getting more attention than they would normally.
Staying isolated and ‘socially distanced’ can be a bit tough, a bit boring, a bit worrying, and financially difficult. However, rushing back to what used to be normally could (and almost certainly will) promote second, third, and fourth waves of Covid cases.
Think about it like this.
1. The virus is out there and it kills people and it is infectious.
2. There is at the moment no cure.
3. There is no treatment (a ventilator just keeps you breathing while your body fights).
4. When you come out of ‘lockdown’ you will have no immunity if you have not already had the virus (and even if you have you may not be immune).
5. A vaccine to give you immunity could be 18 months away (and then someone has to decide who gets it and when; you could be at the back of the queue).
6. Consider points 1 to 5 before you decide to protest for an early end to the lockdown.
As of 10:31 p.m. PDT, yesterday, the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University reports 2,628,929 confirmed cases globally and 183,441 deaths. In the United States, the number dead doubled in about five days to 46,784.
Neil presents good reasons to continue the lockdowns, and the portrait is so appropriate means. We’re all taking on new roles, eh, if establishing our households as “safe zones” from unwanted contamination leading to contagion. “The New Gardener” is a keeper on its own merits—bokeh, contrast, detail, and light, for starters. He made the moment, on April 19, 2020, using Nikon D7200 and 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 lens. Vitals: f/5.3, ISO 200, 1/500 sec, 85mm.
The retired food consultant, who lives in Hemyock, Devon, United Kingdom, joined Flickr in May 2011. Neil bears distinction of having been featured in my previous series, in 2015, for self-titled “Third Age of Man“.
Photo Credit: Neil Moralee