A more significant return to normality by Christmas; moonshot mass testing an alternative plan to allow life to return to closer to normality by Christmas. Boris Johnson offered these assessments in, respectively, July and September. He now says the world will be better by Easter.
Can one really blame politicians for what turn out to be unrealistic forecasts or promises? Do they not have the function of seeking to raise morale? Do you remember the new normal? Where did that go? Do you recall Pedro Sánchez saying, just prior to what was to be only a partial summer, that “together” we had beaten the virus? Or should politicians stick to strict reality, grim as it may be, and avoid the crystal ball?
The coronavirus variant is a further slap in the face of publics left increasingly demoralised by discovering that promises and statements designed to lift spirits and morale are empty. The vaccines now offer hope of deliverance by Easter. Hence there is Johnson’s latest forecast. It is understandable but it is nevertheless fraught with the risk of failure to deliver.
Here in Mallorca we have been encouraged to look to Easter. The phoenix of tourism will rise from the ashes of a cremated economy. Yet ObservaTUR, the national observatory of issuing tourism (i.e. that tourism which travels from Spain) has ruled out an Easter revival. And for outbound tourism, read also inbound. Summer 2022 is its projection for normality. But who knows. Maybe it will all be over by next Christmas.