It seems very rare these days that pragmatism and common sense raise their head above the parapet. When Covid is concerned, such an event is even rarer. I have seen Covid Pragmatism.

At the time of writing this post, the UK Government are considering the subject of Christmas. Specifically if restrictions can be lifted for the festive period.

There are surely conflicting opinions on this topic.

Warnings about the cost of relaxation

Warnings have been issued that for every 1 day we relax restrictions over Christmas, 5 days of additional restrictions will need to be endured. Is that a price worth paying?

Surveys

Today I have seen 2 separate online surveys on this very subject.

The first was a fairly generic question asking on the opinion of Christmas and asking if people would give it up this year.

The second, was a very specific question. Given the 1 day of relaxation costing 5 days of extra restrictions, how many days of relaxation would you like. The results, at the time I completed the survey, we extremely pragmatic. Over 42% of respondents said 0 (zero) with 1,2 & 3 days each polling around 20% of the responses.

Pragmatism

This is the general public being pragmatic.

I perhaps conclude that this is pragmatic because it aligns with my opinion. However, It tells us much about what people are thinking.

Will the United Kingdom give up its hard earn’t position on COVID for a day or 2 of rule relaxation, or, is it better to carry on and restore normality sooner?

So much has been given

The public have given much this year. Most assuredly it has been challenging and emotional for most people. Physically, mentally and emotionally.

In my opinion, it would be foolish to give up on the hard work. Indeed, I believe it would be dangerous.

With positive news around vaccines, we have much to look forward to. The fabled light at the end of the tunnel really exists and it is becoming brighter by the day.

We must not be short sighted.

What will our leaders do?

The big unknown is what the Government will do. Given the second survey I spoke of was a YouGov poll, you would hope that they are taking notice of public opinion. As a result of this, I must ask, “will they act on it?”. Will COVID Pragmatism be a thing?

References

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Photo by Emily Morter on Unsplash