A surreal spring

My attention was first drawn to the Ya bird by my cousin who lives in Herefordshire. She informed me that summer was only truly on the way when the first Ya bird was spotted or more correctly heard on the streets of Ledbury, voted the best place to live in the West Midlands by the Sunday Times no less.

The Ya bird, regal in her country plumage of Barberesque elegance is first heard at some distance uttering her shrill cry of 'Ya darling' often followed by shrill peals of laughter and the tinkle of indiscrete wealth.

However, on Saturday morning an astute local observer noted Ya birds making an unusually early but transitory passage through our village in a series of top notch motors all heading westwards, well outside their normal habitat for this time of year.

Sunday morning and the radio, yes our household still has them and even occasionally referred to as wireless sets, carried news of alarmingly large numbers of Ya birds and hangers on infesting the more remote regions of our nation from Cornwall to Scotland and many in-between. I myself saw one harassed looking Ya bird in a luxurious Rolls Royce heading east mid-morning, quite possibly in search of the butler as panic packing can result in obvious deficiencies.

The message to be taken from this unusual event is quite simple, the 'Money' is fleeing to the hills or where ever their bolt hole is located and will be taking the virus with them. Be assured that the 'Money' will have a greater grasp of the reality of the situation than the rest of us, for that is the modus operandi that got where they are darling.

More alarming to me though was the sudden shout of a hoard of Lycra clad cyclists who stormed past in small gangs only to be noted some five minutes later disappearing into their bolt hole of choice by the church. Now I know that Lycra destroys the optic nerve but does it kill Coronavirus as well? We are heading for trouble indeed as was noted today by a spokesperson for a London Hospital who informs us that they are treating people in their thirties and forties who were fit with no underlying health problems and yet are now in a serious condition.

I for one have no problem with these people putting their own lives at risk, but I do have a serious gripe about them putting the lives of the rest of us at risk, especially our already hard pressed health workers. I have just heard that a local consultant is infected and he and his family are in isolation. We have to grasp the full seriousness of the situation and get that message across to the feckless. In some ways it can be compared to that devastating tsunami that struck Japan in 2004 Remember the film shot from a hill overlooking a fishing town, in the distance a large wave gathering speed, picking up houses and cars as it funnelled up the narrowing valley. The spectators on the hill were watching the people below them and shouting warnings to run because they could see the rapid progress of the wave. But some of the people for whatever reason, shock, infirmity or disbelief would not run and they were swallowed up and in many cases their bodies never found. But that was their choice and it did not directly impact upon anyone else in terms of unsolicited infection.

But what we have seen this weekend in the deliberate act of disobedience to the government's request for social distancing is so different in terms of its utter stupidity and recklessness that it deserves the toughest of sanctions. As the morgues overflow and the waving off of a loved one in an ambulance will be the last time you will ever see them, hospital visiting will obviously be out of the question, will any of these people ever pause to reflect upon their actions and the devastating impact upon our NHS staff?

Hamer Morgan