2 November
We’re now in Tier 3. Not much change in practice for most folk. The challenge is not so much going into the new system as coping with restrictions the more we go into winter. Many people have real fears and anxieties about employment and the future, about putting food on the table and paying bills now, about the loneliness and boredom of not being able to meet up with family and friends. So far in Scotland we seem mainly to have held together a nationwide resolve to work together and observe the restrictions for the common good. The position in England seems a bit more fractured, with splits between and within political parties, resentment of one region against another, and doubts cast on the veracity of what the scientists and medical officers say. Simply telling people to ‘follow the rules’ isn’t enough, governments and communities need to work at building trust and understanding – in data, in why restrictions are needed, in why it is hard (impractical?) for some people to follow them – and put in place practical measures to assist people through these hard times
Lord, it looks like it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Help us to cope. Give us the inner strength we need. Help us to keep our sense of community and the ‘common good’, and not to resort to thinking just about ourselves
