Where Truth & Fiction Meet

Still from 'Contagion' - ©Elsewhere -- taken from The Verge --

 

Late-ish and listening to Handel: the six Concerti Grossi Opus 3 to be exact [sur disque, bien sûr]. A very pleasant respite from everything and better than beta-blockers for reducing cardiovascular stress. Having said that, I re-watched most of the Soderbergh film ‘Contagion’ from 2011 this evening, and the parallels between that and the now are fairly scary: the film was made in the wake of 2003’s SARS outbreak and pretty much foretold the events and course of the current pandemic, caused by its more tenacious cousin, SARS-COV2.

The film also predicted negative social media influence to a tee, with - in this instance - a lone conspiracy theorist ‘influencer’ who also barges into hospital situations uninvited; much as we’re seeing during the current situation with anti-vax protesters. The similarities between the plot of the film and Covid-world are striking at times, almost a script for the present day; however, one thing particularly stands out: how damned organised the response to it was in the film.

As with all US disaster movies, the military are deployed in huge numbers from early on, as the potential impact of the disease becomes apparent: organising and enforcing quarantine measures. Track and trace is taken as read and implemented immediately, as are the first attempts to identify a possible vaccine before the disease runs riot through the population. Public panic and disorder ensue as the ‘influencer’ claims that he ‘cured’ himself with some homeopathic remedy, which prompts violence when supplies run out: his motivation apparently pecuniary, rather than merely crackpot.

Contrast all that with today’s response, both here and in the States: widespread denial and apathy; lack of coherent track and trace policies even after nearly twelve months have elapsed: conspiracy theorists of the genuinely crackpot variety, a) denying that there is even a problem and b) believing that vaccination is a global corporate mind-control plot. In today’s reality the logistical response for the most part has been farmed out to the private sector, rather than government or military agencies.

As we move towards some sort of resolution of the pandemic - no time soon: that’s a given - over here, the government seems to have finally realised that the best organisation to deal with the vaccination programme is the NHS itself; with its expertise and inherently de-centralised structure; its skilled and dedicated staff and because of the trust that we have in an organisation most of us have grown up with and been looked after by.

I’m one of that fortunate generation that was the first to be born under the wing of cradle to grave care by the NHS, and am eternally grateful for its presence in my life: I suffered a serious scalding as a child, and it was six months of outpatient care at the local hospital that got me through it without a scar to betray the extensive burn site. Because of the NHS, my parents didn’t have to find a penny or to call on insurance to fork out for my treatment - in the States it would have bankrupted them.

Saving the NHS is more than just a trite government slogan: they themselves are the biggest threat to its continued existence in its current form and my worry is that they will use a successful vaccination programme as positive political spin to gain another term of office, in order that further privatisations can pass virtually unopposed, funnelling more public property and cash into the pockets of the corporate connected.

After the Second World War was done, so was Churchill’s usefulness to the nation and Labour took the reins. When this pandemic is over, a proper reckoning of this government’s overall piss-poor performance needs to be had: we can’t just let our relief at it being over cloud rational thought, and lionise the mediocrity that is our current Prime Minister for his 'success' in fighting the disease. Unlike Churchill, Johnson wasn’t useful to us in the first place.