It takes no time at all, in times of trouble, for seismic societal cracks to appear. I have witnessed several friends recently, those most unexpected to the naked eye, to succumb after but a couple of weeks of house arrest. It could be deemed to be a sudden descent into madness: Social media posts become more frequent and increasingly bizarre and antagonistic. Veiled cries of help become rabid screams of fury as they look to extol their pent-up ire onto unsuspecting cyber space masses. They keep posting until they provoke a response, which then turns into recriminations with those of differing mindsets, before the next post gets crazier and more vitriolic still: it’s like Brexit all over again and the lord knows we had more than enough of watching that particular show pony go through the same tired routine time and time again.

We crave leadership as we unwittingly form in flocks. After a few days thrashing against the system, we go willingly with government advice but then, in but a short time, when we have had time to devour the devil in the detail, we start to question the advice we have been given. I have followed all the Government directives thus far despite my being 95 per cent sure I suffered from the virus pre-detailed guidance. At the time, I believed it was flu, and without on demand testing, there will be thousands more inadvertently spreading the virus as they remain unaware of their suffrage. Bojo, Hancock and Chris Witty have all succumbed to Covid-19 despite arguably following their own advice. Either that or it was do as I say, not as I do. Anyway, they are all holed up in opulent North London townhouses for a week or two bar the odd broadcast, as they remain suited and resplendent on webcam from the waist up.

The social distancing diktat, although crude, will no doubt save lives, but the one element of the intervention I cannot comprehend is how we are collectively forbade from driving to a car park to take our daily exercise. Having a young family is, for me, good training for when I give in to pester power, and we eventually get a dog. On lockdown we are feeding them 20 times a day, ensuring they are groomed and clean, despite being dressed up with nowhere to go, and ‘exercising them’ for an hour on a daily basis: but here in lies the problem which has been subject to debate this week: Should you drive to the exercise area or walk?

We follow the advice set out and walk the quarter of a mile or so. On the way we trundle along the pavement and up the alleyway coming into close contact with others. We always attempt to move over to one side of the path but not everyone has the same boundaries (and sad to say it is generally the local dog walkers who portray an air of right of way authority). We then do our thang, far from the madding crowd, and walk back, again encountering others who impose on the two-metre exclusion zone. Option B, which is a lot safer, is to jump in the car, away from being an infector or infectee, drive to the exercise area, have a run about and drive home. Now, I understand some have abused this trust and have taken liberties by driving 20 miles or so, and they merit public disdain, but we also risk a fine if we drive a few hundred yards to our self-isolating place of sanctuary. Meanwhile, the police, losing their main revenue streams of parking enforcement and speeding tickets, travel around in pairs as they attempt to warn us all to socially distance and fine us as they deem fit with their new-fangled powers.

Shutting car parks will either cause visitors to park irresponsibility, or to walk, thus making them much more likely to spread or be infected. It is, to me, an intervention that is knee-jerk and makes little sense whatsoever. If anything, maybe encouraging people to go out and drive around is beneficial to asking them to walk to exercise: We should encourage some ‘me time’, and driving will undoubtedly help some avoid domestic violence, which has seen an increase of 25 per cent in recent weeks, or act a release for actual or potential mental health issues.

We are all in this together and whether it turns out to be mankind’s greatest threat this century, or an overreaction of monumental proportions, we can mostly say, as a society, that we acted responsibly and stepped up to the plate when called upon to do so. To continue in this vein, we need not only direction, but reasonings as to that direction. With the car situation outlined, I lose confidence in those in power to be able to direct the fit and proper course of action as they use their defacto reasoning of the ‘medical advice’ at every turn. Until detail is given, and the longer this goes on, the more I can see rebellion, many will continue to stick two fingers up to supposed advice and risk the local plod as we lose faith in those we have chosen to shepherd our flock.

  • Brett Ellis is a teacher