Chapter Three - Firewall
Dawning awareness
I admit 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. 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. 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, loyal 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 disability
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.
"No one expected York to be the first UK city to record cases of coronavirus."
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 was three days before I fully accepted Molly’s warnings. After the first two English cases were reported in nearby 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. 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.