Hu r ɖ nrsz, doctrz, clīnrz, clarcs, portrz, rsrćrz n cnsultnts on hūm so mni lîvz dpnd?

N ẃt r ɖer storiz?

I wz born at Wōlzgrev Hospitl in Covntri on 15 Ōġst 1982, so it flt aproprịt ɖt I śd vizit its modn cǎnṭpart, Yṇvrṣti Hospitl (YHCW), t dokmnt ɖ storiz v evride herǒizm wɖn.

Mî frst de on sait bgan wɖ a śev. I hd t b “fit-tstd” fr an FFP3 masc – a form v prsnl pṛtctiv iqipmnt yzd in criticl cer – bt birdz r stricli pṛhibtd bcz ɖe privnt a tît sìl. Tū bluntd rezrz lêtr, I dond mî masc n a nrs sqrtd a liqid intu mî fes. “Cn y test donuts?” ś asct. I cd’nt, ẃć mnt mî masc wz tît.

I flt gilti fr rsivñ preśs PPI, bt wz tld ɖt ɖ hospitl hd ampl rzorsz, ʈancs t dilijnt planñ n ɖt ɖ hlʈcer staf wontd ɖer storiz t b hŕd.

Az I wōct ʈru ɖ coṛdorz n intu ɖ les cntejs wordz, iniṣ́li wẹrñ onli a besic srjicl masc, ɖ hospitl wz so qayt ɖt it hardli flt lîc a pandemic at ol. I hd xpctd alarmbelz, doctrz in hazmat-sūts pññ fṛm bed t bed, n ɖ sǎnd v peśnts struġlñ t briɖ. Instd, I pást roz v emti bedz – intîr wordz on standbî – n nrsz in miniml PPI cāmli pṛsidñ wɖ ɖer rǎndz.

I glimst sm peśnts, ɖo mni wr tuct awe in prîṿt rūmz or dormz. Most lct xōstd. I asct wn man fr pmiśn t foṭgraf hiz legz ʈru a windo az h txtd luvd wnz. H agrìd. Az I pīrd ʈru ɖ lénz n intu hiz rūm, it wz no longr ɖ qaytnis ɖt struc m – it wz ɖ sns v îṣleśn. Lîc ol Covid-19 peśnts, ɖs man wz fizicli seṗretd fṛm hiz frendz n faṃli.

Ɖ folowñ de I met a rcuṿrñ Covid-19 peśnt hu wz sn t b dsćarjd. Hiz lebrd spīć n wìcnd bodi iḷstretd ɖ śir dstructivnis v ɖ vîṛs. It wz olso mî frst xpirịns v wẹrñ adiśnl PPI – letx gluvz, a vîzr n a flimzi epṛn. Bî ɖ tîm mî fîv-minit inṭvy wz dn, I wz swetñ pṛfysli n cd hardli consntret on ɖ mulṭpl rǎndz v handwośñ rqîrd bfr I cd līv ɖ rūm.

Wn inṭvy in ptiklr, wɖ bîosayntist Ranvir Siñ Ćavn, wz ptiklrli pôńnt. H spouc v hiz dzîr t hug hiz muɖr agn.

Ʈancf̣li, n smẃt s’prîzñli, ɖr wz plenti v lît rlif ʈrt ɖ hospitl. I spotd Stesi Gavin in ɖ medicl-dsiźnz ynit. Ś wz wẹrñ a “brîd-t-bi” saś, n struc a pǒz momntṛli az I trnd arnd wɖ mî camra. In tîmz v stres n dstres, it sīmz a smîl z wn v ɖ most vałbl ʈñz y cn brñ t a hospitl. It wz’nt untl mî last de at ɖ hospitl ɖt I wz tecn intu ɖ intnsiv-ʈeṛpi ynit, ẃr ɖ sicist peśnts r cept on lîf s’port. I ń mî xpirịns n pspśn v ɖ NHS wd b fr evr oltrd bî ẃt I wd witnis in IƮY. I olso ń I hd a dyti t foṭgraf it oṇstli n rspctf̣li.

I lct arnd ɖ word wɖ a sns v adṃreśn. Mni v ɖ medics wr mî ej or yungr. I ʈt t mslf: hir ɖe r, ɖ subjicts v mî aplōz.

Ɖ guvnmnt hz prīvịsli sd it wz unebl t jôn ɖ YY scīmz az it hd nt rsivd an īmeil v invteśn. Bt ɖ Gardịn rvild last wīc ɖt ɖ YC míst ʈri oṗtyṇtiz t b part v ɖ YY scīm t bulc-bai mascs, gǎnz n gluvz.

In a bîtñli criticl ese publiśt bî Penḡn, ɖ oʈr v Hiz Darc Mtirịlz sz ɖ intîr frunt bnć śd rzîn f it z faund t b tru ɖt MPz dclînd t ptiṣpet “fr Brexit-rletd rīznz”. Bt Pŭlmn pridictd ɖt no reẓgneśnz wd folo bcz ɖ MPz rsponsbl “hv nt a sngl gren v śem”.

“So ɖe śd b arend on ćarjz v cnspiṛsi t mrdr. Nʈñ les wl d. Ɖe ń ɖ riscs, n ʈt ɖ’d rɖr apiz ɖ fomñ zeḷts v Brexit,” raits ɖ noṿlist, hu hz dscrîbd Brexit az a ctastṛfi in ɖ past.

Ɖ ese sz ɖt ɖ pṛfǎnd ćenj v srcmstansz mīnz w śd nǎ hold bac on līvñ ɖ YY. “Ɖr r so mni clir advantjz t biyñ in ɖ YY, n ɖ beṇfits v līvñ r so tenẏs n fansifl, ɖt w mst rvizit ɖ ref̣rendm n hop ɖt ɖs tîm ɖ Lebr parti undr a ny līdr wl ple a propr part in ɖ arğmnt; n ɖt ɖ lîz, ɖ ćītñ, ɖ flegṛnt n śemlis mndaṣti wl b fŭli xpozd bî a stroñ, paśṇt, n foc̣st campen t rmen,” sz Pŭlmn.

A loñ-tîm critic v ɖ Cnsrvtiv guvnmnt, Pŭlmn lez ǎt hiz b’lif ɖt “w mst brn ǎt ɖ old c’rupśn n istabliś a betr we v livñ tgɖr”.

“It’s ol got t ćenj,” h raits. “F w cm ǎt v ɖs crîsis wɖ ol ɖ ric̣ti, flî-bloun, wrm-ītn old strucćrz stl intact, ɖ sem ven n indḷnt public scūlbôz in ćarj, ɖ sem hejfund manijrz stufñ ɖer oṿlodd pocits wɖ grīsi fngrz, ǎr dsndnts wl nt fgiv s.”

Ɖ ese z part v a ny siriz fṛm Penḡn oʈrz, Pspctivz, of̣rñ ɖer rsponsz t Covid-19. F’loṣfr AC Grelñ hz ritn abt hǎ ɖ f’loṣfi v ɖ Stǒics cn gîd s ʈru ɖ crîsis, Hoḷcōst-svîvr Īdiʈ Īgr on hǎ w cn fînd streñʈ in ɖ mdst v it, n Maḷri Blacmn on hǎ ɖ pandemic śd līd s t a fẹrr ssayti. Penḡn sz ɖ siriz z intndd t folo in ɖ spirit v its fǎndr Aḷn Len, hu set p ɖ publiśr in 1935 “t enśur evrwn hd axes t ɖ gretist mîndz, storiz n îdīaz ʈru aforḍbl n hî-qoḷti bcs”.

“No mor importnt z ɖs ɖn in tîmz v unpresdntd crîsis,” ɖ publiśr sd.