Chapter Three - Firewall: a moment of clarity
Within the walls of Meirion Court, a stark realisation dawns. What if Molly's concerns are valid? What if government inaction truly jeopardises lives? Explore this pivotal chapter where the owner's perspective shifts, and the true stakes of their isolated world become terrifyingly clear.
Dawning awareness
My first response to Molly's warning that Meirion Court could become “a death trap” had been to fob her off. The Prime Minister’s dismissal of the growing “panic” as “irrational” had paradoxically aroused my suspicions, though. I hoped she’d infer that I acknowledged my responsibilities but that I would respond in due course. At some stage, Boris would have to develop a Covid strategy for elderly care, but if Molly was right, we could not afford to wait. So, I already had an outline plan and didn’t waste any time starting my own investigation.
Her use of the word “firewall” kept simmering in the back of my mind, urging me to look for any potential cracks in our institution. Despite our highly trained and unusually well-paid workforce, I could not deny that if Covid ever found a way in, most of our residents would be exposed to mortal danger.
Molly's hidden battle
Molly Fitzwalter had first visited Meirion Court with barely camouflaged resentment. Late-onset cystic fibrosis, with its constant battles against weakened lungs and the need for an uncompromising calorie intake, had robbed her of a single, independent life. She had a voluminous list of requirements. The decisive factors, she confessed, were the promised personal trainer and Michelin-starred menus - a peculiar combination, but one that met the needs of her condition: tempting, high-calorie meals and a relentless exercise regime to counter the condition’s unsparing march.
Government inaction: a growing threat
I’m never normally indecisive, but Molly’s words gnawed at me. News of the coronavirus saturated the media. I kept giving thought to what to do in such an emergency, but it took nearly a week for me to take Molly’s warnings onboard. After the first two English cases were reported in York, though, I sought her out in the conservatory. She must have anticipated what I was about to say and waved that morning’s newspaper at me.
“Students, returning to College after the Chinese New Year, no doubt. The Italian Government is taking the temperatures of all Chinese arrivals, while Boris keeps the airports open to skiers from the Italian Alps. Years of austerity have left the NHS with serious funding issues, and this new virus could easily overwhelm it. Domino effect: the subsequent step would be for hospitals to discharge their supernumerary patients into residential facilities like ours.
“Hancock is making generalised speeches about care homes, yet he doesn’t appear to have considered the particular issue of elderly adults with cardiac, asthmatic, or thoracic issues.” As the burden of her words settled upon me, I realised that prevarication was no longer an option.