This Goes On Until At Least 2025. There's Always Another Virus

In January this year, I suggested we should plan for this nonsense to be going on for another four years. Until 2025. I had a moment's hope after July 19th, as the Government switched policy from looking at cases to looking at deaths. Maybe we would get through Christmas without restrictions and suggestions that we all might like to stay home. Maybe Boris wanted to be the only leader of a Top Ten economy whose people had Christmas at all.

And then along came Omicron, and the PR turned on a sixpence. Suddenly cases mattered. Boris imposed mask wearing in shops and trains. It wasn't so much the condition, but that he felt he could do it. One of two things will happen: Omicron will be declared harmless, the restrictions removed and a Happy Christmas to all; or the restrictions will be tightened and a work-from-home advice given. There will be almost no enforcement of this, but it will be enough to p**s everyone off. As a result, the wary people will plan for another lockdown, and another two terms of home-schooling.

Break out that "I Am Exempt" badge. I've been using mine and have had zero problems. Shop assistants smile, they don't frown.

I am pretty sure that the Government cannot afford another lockdown, or even to close "non-essential shops" and restrict hospitality activity. The next one will be a LINO (lockdown in name only) that restricts our social lives, but is enforced by exactly nobody (except the twats and bullies, and there are always those).

But I am now confident that this is not going to go away in Summer 2022.

WW2 might have ended in 1945, but rationing remained until 1954. Bomb sites were common in the 1960s. It wasn't until the 1980s that The War faded from our social memory.

Economically, this is as expensive as a conventional old-school world war.

This stuff is going on until at least summer 2025. There's always another virus.

Travel restrictions, masking, working-from-home, cut-back-on-socialising-in-Winter, tests, Red Lists, quarantine hotels, and inoculation drives. Threats of passports this and certificates that. Closing shops, opening shops. Years of bulls**t PR gaslighting and of special interest groups advancing their causes in the chaos.

It will be a few years before we believe that restrictions will not suddenly be re-imposed.

Our lives will feel worn-out and shabby.

Like the world does after the snow turns to dirty slush.