Lockdown, Part Six: Let's not normalise deadly viruses

I don't wish Boris Johnson any harm and I most certainly wish him a speedy recovery, but if there's one thing I can't stand, it's being told what to do by a tabloid newspaper. "He stayed at work for you, now pray at home for him". And what are you going to do if I don't, you sub-standard little red top newspaper?

Having Raab at the helm is very worrying so yes, Boris, get out of hospital as soon as you can and relieve the man of his duties, although, judging by the fact that Johnson is in hospital with Coronavirus might mean that he too is not really the guy that should be running the country during a pandemic. That said, what is the alternative? Michael Gove? The last thing we want is Orville running the show.

I started off week three of my lockdown exercise regime yesterday with a 10-mile ride to just beyond Warlingham Sainsbury's. I doubled back along Ledgers Road, it might be Ledgers Lane, can't remember, but it was longer than I remembered and I think it added at least a mile on to my distance, so I'm guessing I rode around 11 miles, probably just over.

Hopefully, Johnson will lead the charge against China's unhealthy practices

If the truth be known, I didn't want to go out. I was feeling a little tired, although I hadn't been out of the house all day. It might have a lot to do with staying up late watching episodes of the X Files. Even this morning I could have wished the radio further when it switched itself on at 0600hrs, so I need to hit the sack earlier. It's all very well thinking I'm doing myself some good by drinking a camomile tea before bed, but if I'm not getting enough kip, well, it's not right.

They're talking (on Radio 4) about an international response to the crisis, but as always nobody asks the right questions or deals with the real problem: China. They always skate around the situation, being careful not to leave themselves open to charges of racism. The World Health Organisation, it is being said, is too politically close to China, even Donald Trump is starting to get a little fidgety about the WHO, claiming that he's going to look into it as the USA hands over the most money.

Trump's bound to have something to say...

What we need is somebody to do an Emperor's New Clothes and say it out loud: China is to blame for this virus, nobody else, their bad practices in Wuhan, their cover-up - their fault! It's hard to believe that nobody is saying anything, but they're not and yet thousands of people are dying. There's a story on the BBC website: 'Message from Wuhan: Learn from our mistakes.' I found myself thinking, yes, Wuhan's mistake. If it wasn't for Wuhan's mistakes we wouldn't be in this position. I think the issue here is this: we can't be placed in this position again, it's not only killing a lot of people, it's damaging the economies of nations around the globe AND infringing on the personal freedoms of millions of people. Surely we need to ensure that such a tragedy doesn't happen again. I think if something like this raises its ugly head again, we need to stop it immediately, stop flights from the offending nation and keep our economies going. We can't afford to be politically correct on something of this magnitude. In fact, I'd rather be called a racist than be stuck indoors for months on end and having to socially distance myself from everybody. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that nobody's going to say or do anything, lessons will not be learned and we'll sleep walk into it again in the not too distant future. I'm hoping not, but unless somebody has the guts to say something and mean it, we can all expect our current lockdown situation to become the norm. So watch out for those who start trying to 'normalise' the lockdown - like the mass media, because that will lead to complacency and that's the last thing anybody wants at the moment. You would have thought that being in intensive care, risking his own death by foolishly shaking hands with Corona virus victims, Boris Johnson would come out fighting and determined to put a stop the Chinese doing whatever it is they do that can cause such massive problems for the rest of the world. But I'm doubtful. And if the WHO is politically aligned with the Chinese, well, perhaps things do need to change.

Tonight, the second of my 10-mile rides. Next week it'll be 14 miles. On the cycling front it's all good, although it's a shame I'm not allowed to cycle with anybody and by that I mean my pal Andy. He, like me, is doing the same, cycling alone and we're both missing the tea and the chat. Hopefully, things will improve, but right now we're in the thick of it.

* Photos courtesy of Pixabay.com