LONDON, U.K. -- Welcome hand-washers and fellow pandemic shut-ins to another day under “le confinement,” as the French call it.
Day 45 here and British resolve seems to be holding. A poll last weekend showed 81 per cent of the population in favor of keeping pubs closed.
That shows remarkable discipline.
The Lansdowne across the street looks forlorn with its picnic tables stacked against the wall.
In Belgium it’s the “frietkoten” that are looking forlorn—the equivalent of Canadian chip wagons. Nobody’s eating fries and the country is going through a crisis.
The problem is a mountainous glut of frozen fries waiting to be eaten. Not so easy when the country’s restaurants are closed.
The government allowed “frietkoten” to stay open—as an essential service—but most of them closed anyway.
Drastic situation required drastic action. The call went out to all Belgians to do their part as a matter of national pride.
Eat more fries.
Specifically, eat fries twice a week and save 750,000 tons of potatoes from going to waste.
Think about it: Belgium made eating the most popular food in the world a sacrifice. We are all happy victims.
“We don’t just invite all Belgians to eat more fries,” pleaded an industry spokesperson. “We invite the entire world.”
- Read more: Belgians urged to double down on fries, do national duty
- Read more: Nearly 200M pounds of Canadian french fry potatoes stuck in storage
In Britain, the headlines are about a whopping violation of lockdown rules, and a prized planeload Turkish medical gowns?
With such a wealth of choice, where to begin?
A couple of weeks ago, in a panic, the U.K. sent a fleet of RAF cargo planes to Istanbul to pick up desperately needed medical equipment—including 400,000 hospital gowns.
The order was hurriedly arranged, shoddily executed, and spectacularly bungled.
The planes sat on the tarmac for nearly three days before finally taking off with the precious medical supplies safely on board.
Well people, today we learned the equipment has been impounded in a government warehouse, and can’t be used because—it doesn’t meet U.K. safety standards.
Britain wants to send it all back and get a refund. Good luck with that.
Question: Did nobody bother to check before it was airlifted at great cost and huge embarrassment?
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The lockdown violation involves Prof. Neil Ferguson, one of the country’s leading infectious disease experts —now cruelly dubbed “Naughty Neil” by one of the tabloids.
It was Prof. Ferguson who predicted the country could suffer 250,000 deaths if it didn’t take drastic action and impose a nationwide lockdown.
That didn’t stop him from letting his lover visit—while the rest of the country was warned to practice social distancing, or risk death.
“I made an error in judgment,” he admitted and pretty much everybody in the country agreed with that. He immediately resigned from the committee of eminent scientists that is now—crucially—advising the government on coronavirus.
No exceptions, even for brilliant scientists.
Lockdown means lockdown.
