We must get used to living with coronavirus.

The virus is still in widespread circulation in the community. A coronavirus vaccine is still quite possibly 1-2 years away even on relatively optimistic scenarios. Normality is not about to return, especially for the very large number of people in high-risk groups. In other words, we must get used to living with coronavirus.

But we also mustn’t get used to living with coronavirus.

Friday’s news that “only” 44 people had died a day on average in hospitals from coronavirus in the previous week showed how quickly we’ve become acclimatised to coronavirus deaths. Even with the good news of that 7-day average falling, it’s still at a level where the deaths on any one day are such that if they had occurred in a one-off industrial accident it would have resulted in banner headlines, lengthy inquiries and radical changes to how that industry operations. In other words, we must not get used to living with coronavirus.

Sometimes, then, inconsistency is a virtue. Adapt but don’t accept. Get used to it. But don’t get used to it.

 

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