On the front line

Our veteran driver and contributor Bob has been on the road throughout the Covid-19 outbreak. He looks back over the last few months, and further back to the Winter of Discontent in 1978/9

- Bob Beech

The Coronavirus has had a massive effect upon every single aspect of modern life and it is an issue for virtually every part of the planet. Britain is not alone in paying a heavy price in terms of deaths and debilitating illness caused by the virus.

There is also a massive financial cost caused by the shutdown of much of the economy, many businesses are either closed, or working at much-reduced capacity, huge numbers of the population are confined to their homes and only allowed out for essential purposes, such as food shopping, daily exercise, or if they are considered to be a key worker.

Obviously, the front-line NHS staff are the greatest priority, with many risking their own health and quite possibly their lives when treating patients who have the disease. The support services that supply the hospitals, clinics, care homes, and other medical centers are the next tiers of this ongoing battle.

Meanwhile, the country needs to be fed and watered, the supermarkets have had to cope with unprecedented demand, especially in the first few weeks of the lockdown because of panic buying.

Suppliers both here and abroad, are working hard to keep up with the buying public and farmers are as busy as ever producing food for the public in its many forms, planting crops to keep us fed later in the year.

The same applies to the numerous other businesses that provide essential goods and services to keep the country running, even with a relatively low level of economic activity. We could go on, but there is one common theme between all of these essential aspects of modern life, they all rely on road transport and most importantly drivers to make it all happen.