The new 10pm curfew in Britain, a desperate attempt to reduce the alarming surge in COVID-19 cases there since lockdown has been relaxed, seems to be creating a national existential crisis.
The country is now at around 6,000 new cases a day, worse than during the dark days of April and May, snd some authotities are predicting this may go up to as much as 50,000 a day next month unless strong measures are taken. Something clearly has to be done, and the latest solution, both in Britain and elsewhere - and one which I am very unconvinced by, I have to say - is to reduce the length of time that pubs and restaurants can serve alcohol, alcohol being one of the things that cause people to drop their guards and forget to observe social distancing rules. Ontario has also put a time limit on drinking in bars recently - last orders at 11pm, close at 12 - and this has also met with vocal opposition, despite the even less strict rule in this case. Does anyone really nees to be still drinking at midnight?
Pub owners often maintain that pubs are not the problem, and that virus transmission os more likely to happen in the home, but the evidence points to a lot of transmission in newly-reopened bars and restaurants. Socializing in an enclosed, poorly-ventilated, loud, crowded place is just not a good idea during a pandemic. The alcohol-fuelled drops in inhibitions and attention, as well as the effects of music snd dancing, only make things worse.
Many opppnents, pub owners and local politicians in Britain are arguing that if they force pubs to close at 10pm, then they are actively encouraging people to go to each others' homes or into the streets to continue the party in a more crowded and totally unregulated environment, which is only going to make the problem worse. As one politician explained, people are "coming out of a pub or restaurant at 10 o'clock, and thinking what to do next", to which I would respond, "go the hell home, don't you know there's a pandemic on. for fuck's sake?"
Many people seem to think they have a God-given right to party and to get smashed. But in a time of national, even global crisis, I'm sorry, but they may have to curtail their cosy, privileged lifestyle in the interests of the common good. I like a beer as much as the next guy - although perhaps not as much as the next guy in Britain, which has a major national alcohol problem anyway, which frankly needs to be addressed, pandemic or no pandemic. But if pubs and restaurants are part of the problem (and no-one is saying they are the whole of the problem), and people can't control their urges - yes, millennials, I'm looking at you! - then they need to allow the authorities to do what little they can to regulate those variables they can control, and not whine about how their lives are not quite perfect.
These are non-essential activities, get used to it. 10pm last orders is not a human rights violation, it's a minor inconvenience. And maybe we need to just suck it up, and accept a bit of short-term pain to avoid long-term pain, both economic and social. Otherwise, this damned pandemic is going to go on forever!
Ooh, I didn't intend that to come out quite so stridently. I guess that's how I really feel.
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