Covid-19: Partygate makes a mockery of the sacrifices made and the losses endured (30 May 2022)

Summary

Almost all of us reading about the tawdry details of “partygate” will have specific memories from the past two years to put the revelry at No. 10 Downing Street into sombre context. Families separated, funerals missed, partners unable to be present at the birth of their child, children unable to be present at the death of their parent, loneliness, social isolation, depression, anxiety—all the inevitable consequences of following rules laid down for the collective good.

In this BMJ article, Nicci Gerrard, founder of John’s Campaign,  which was set up to campaign on behalf of the rights of people living with dementia, shares her own memories and the stories and pain of a particular group of people who suffered greatly during the pandemic, whose health was harmed, whose hearts were broken, and in some cases, whose lives ended because of the rules drawn up under the pandemic.