COLUMN: No room for complacency over Covid-19 to stop Tier 1 turning into Tier 2

There is nothing that coronavirus has not touched: from friendships to businesses and from commuting to holidays, a virus that has killed more than one million people worldwide shows precious little sign of disappearing, writes MP for Boston and Skegness Matt Warman.
MP for Boston and Skegness Matt Warman.MP for Boston and Skegness Matt Warman.
MP for Boston and Skegness Matt Warman.

In the UK, Lincolnshire has so far seen relatively few cases – Boston and Skegness’s comparative geographic isolation from the largest urban centres has been the major cause of that, and means it’s all the more important that nobody gets complacent about following what are simple rules.

Moving from Tier 1, where we are now, to Tier 2 would see social interactions with those outside your own household banned indoors, and in Tier 3 they’re effectively banned altogether.

It’s not as extreme as the first, nationwide lockdown but these measures are painful, affecting the mental health of everybody and the physical health of huge numbers as well.

For all our sakes, it’s essential we take these measures to slow the spread of the virus and adjust to what will be a new normal.

For those who say the young need not bother, I say show me a young person who doesn’t know older people whose lives they value hugely.

For those who spread ignorant, fake news online, I say show me your degree in epidemiology or give us all your silence.

For those who say shield the elderly and the vulnerable while the rest of us go back to normal, the message is even simpler: we are one country, and we must, carefully, sensitively, get through this together.

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