The return of the deep shelter mentality

Seven weeks confined to a city apartment changes a man. Trees, for example, have never been a particular passion of mine but recently I’ve spent many happy moments studying the plane tree outside my bedroom window, and in particular the magpies’ nest therein.

On Saturday a baby magpie emerged from the nest and edged tentatively along a branch. There it stayed for several minutes until it retreated to the security of its nest.

On Sunday, the Observer reported that a similar nervousness now afflicts the British. According to the paper, fewer than one in five of the public believe the time is right to end the lockdown. Britain is not alone in its apprehension. A poll last week in the US reported that 75 per cent of the country want their lockdown to continue, and two-thirds of those canvassed in France admitted to trepidation ahead of their ‘deconfinement’ next Monday. In Ireland, an influential think tank reported yesterday that most of the country is ‘really quite nervous about restrictions being lifted’.