Star comment: Lewis Hamilton a reminder of how serious Covid can be
We appear to be through the first phase of the pandemic. The numbers may fluctuate a little and there are still a frightening number of people in hospital battling infection. Yet we are through the worst.
The number of deaths remains mercifully low and infection rates have fallen, rather than increased, confounding the predictions of sane, sensible politicians and epidemiologists alike.
That does not mean we can rest easy. Quite the reverse. It means things are not quite as bad as though were, though they are considerable worse than they were in January and February 2020, when the horrors of Covid were yet to unfold.
One way for us to maintain our advantage over Covid is by continuing to behave sensibly when it comes to vaccinations. A large proportion of those in hospital presently are young adults who have foolishly and erroneously imagined they are safe from Covid. To their cost, they have found they were not. Many are filled with regret as they occupy a hospital bed that might have been used for a cancer patient or person with heart issues.
The seriousness of Covid and long Covid has illustrated by the world’s greatest motorsport driver this weekend, when Lewis Hamilton revealed his belief that he is suffering from it. If a man that young and fit can be reduced by long Covid, so can millions of others.
It is important, therefore, that youngsters get the jab. It is also critical that the older generation line up for boosters.
We need continued discipline among the population to keep up booster jabs against Covid as well as protecting ourselves from a resurgence of flu.
School’s out and that means a small minority of children will get themselves into trouble.
There are endless ways in which miscreants can put themselves and others at risk. One of them, it was warned today, is straying on to railway tracks.
Parents have to accept responsibility for policing their children during the summer holidays and making sure they do not get into mischief. They have an obligation to ensure good behaviour so that emergency services are not required to fill the void.
Young people want to push the boundaries, though there are endless ways in which they can do that constructively in our increasingly busy society. In the case of railways, of course, it’s not just children who get into trouble. Adults too often see them as a short cut and take a chance.
In all cases, the risks are perilous for anyone who strays.
