The panic over swine ‘flu has subsided somewhat. It would have been really quite amusing had it not been quite so serious. Think about it, our officials, the scientists, the NGO charged with monitoring world health and every expert going was utterly thrown by the potential consequences of the virus. Almost all we have heard for a week is ‘we don’t know’, ‘we’re sending off for tests’ and ‘it’s impossible to say’.

Great. What wonderful people we have to rely on in a true panic of almost unprecedented proportions. Imagine if this virus becomes worse, more fatal. The consequences would be truly dire, and what have we got? A group of leaders resembling little more than the rabbit caught in the headlights. Too scared to move, too fearful to do anything other than cover their faces, realise their weakness and rely on sheer luck that we would avoid the worst .

And what was their great logic behind not banning all flights to Mexico? “It’s like locking the door after the horse has bolted”. Ah, what wonderful logic! Applying this reasoning in its most literal form, is it really illogical to lock a door after the horse has bolted? No it is not. It’s like a football team going 1-0 down and deciding that well, now we’ve conceded one, we may as well concede ten.

And the government’s great initiative to prevent the spread of swine ‘flu? Use a tissue. Yes, a flipping tissue. Then the best bit. Throw it away. It’s truly ground breaking advice. It’s right up there with ‘don’t throw away your lottery ticket’ and ‘if you win £100, don’t set fire to it’.

Right now, it looks like we have been fortunate not only that it was not a more virulent strain, but that we may have escaped the consequences of fatally poor plans for an epidemic. Apparently we had enough antivirals for half of the population. Yet of the very few people who contracted the illness, some found it immensely difficult to even get hold of it! How that can be in an apparently first world, modern, industrialised country is absolutely mind numbing. And quite scary.

This wasn’t just luck, this was more M&S luck. The government have got away with this one, because quite frankly their claims of ‘we are the second best prepared country’ was a very convincing mask to hide behind. Had the outbreak been worse, we would have seen countless deaths and avoidable ones too. The truth is that using a tissue and throwing it away never solved a crisis, and neither does a leaflet.

The content of this article is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of The Vibe.

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