Sunday, 30 May 2021

Coronavirus streets in Manchester - XXXIV

A quite to things

We can agree that I have moved into full Bank Holiday mode not so much by going away, but by allowing myself a longer lie-in, dozing off on the sofa, and rest that some others have at times misconstrued to being up to mischief. I cannot even defend myself enough from such suspicions, it is tiresome and irritation, I reckon it comes with the territory, an overexertion of the imagination or a deficit of trust.

Today being Trinity Sunday, I did expect a busy church and whilst there were many people attending, only one member of the clergy was present, in the position of the president and the preacher at the Sung Eucharist, even the choir was absent. One of the wardens read the lessons in a voice that did not define his age, an adult with a voice at the cusp of cracking.

Some learning helps too

After the service, I first went to read a panel on the history of Salford, an old train station and other developments on the wall below the Cathedral Approach. Then walking up Chapel Street which is partly closed for the many road reconstructions dotted around Manchester and Salford with inconsiderable schedules of work. I will think road users are navigating a maze if they dare visit the centres of these two cities.

Turned left towards the Lowry Hotel, crossing the Trinity Bridge ensconced in a park on the north bank the River Irwell and then right towards Spinningfields where I saw queues of people who appeared to be completely oblivious of pandemic precautions trying to gain entrance to imitation biergartens (German for beer gardens) in the sudden advent of seemingly summery weather.

They are out queuing

The restaurants are full too, though I am concerned about the ‘Check-in to a venue’ facility on the NHS Test and Trace COVID-19 app, because it registers the time of your check-in for the rest of the day and if there is no consideration for when you left a venue, you wonder about how that could affect you if patrons visited a place many hours apart, but on the same day would be distinguished as not implicated except that they are at a venue. Maybe the link would be the staff at the venue being vectors and that gets quite concerning.

Patrons might be asked to isolate whilst the staff continue as if they interacted with no one. I am not sure that setup is as foolproof as one is made to believe. In my view, I will still give public places a wide berth and take the preference of alfresco dining over sitting indoors. People are trying to regain a sense of normalcy, any new lockdowns regardless of the penalties for breaches might invite a public insurrection.

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