What has changed though is that 40,000+ citizens have paid some of the price for the Tories fixation with GDP and The Economy. And now it seems that they are going to quietly take the brakes off and let Covid-19 rip through the UK because, 'we're all in this together'.
I did wonder, not entirely tongue-in-cheek, if Covid-19 could save the planet and there is plenty of evidence that the environment has benefited from the significant reductions in pollution arising from travel restrictions. But Covid-19 has also thrown into stark relief just how dependent society has become on 'consumerism' for employment and tax generation. The Government seems, at present, to be more concerned about the hospitality industry than it is about the health of the population - even in the face of hard evidence which shows that people who have had a drink find it harder to 'social distance'.
Covid-19 offers us the chance to learn about our current social and economic structures and how they may benefit us and how they may also threaten. The question is whether or not we are capable of seeing beyond our fixation with fiscal profit or loss to establish what is truly in the best interests of society.