It’s really beginning to feel like that time of year again, the time that comes around with monotonous regularity.

You know the one I mean when the Government ignores all the medical and epidemiological experts and is finally forced into taking the action it should have taken in the first place to save people’s lives in the face of a rampant pandemic.

We’ve been here before, haven’t we?

Failing to do the right thing at the right time inevitably leading to even more stringent public health measures a few weeks – and several thousand deaths – later.

As the BBC reports, ministers have been tasked with developing “robust contingency plans” for workplace absences, as the Government warned rising numbers of Covid cases could see up to a quarter of staff off work.

The threat of the Omicron variant is so bad, public sector leaders have been asked to prepare for “worst case scenarios” of 10 per cent, 20 per cent and 25 cent sickness absence rates.

The UK saw a record numbers of daily cases over the festive period and that is only likely to get worse as inter-generational and household mixing over Christmas and New Year filter through.

But the evidence is it could already be too late with transport, the NHS and schools already seeing the effect of absences.

As the BBC adds, rising case numbers have led to large numbers self-isolating and being unable to go to work. This has particularly affected industries where staff are unable to work from home. That’s hardly a surprise is it?

But, to be fair, there isn’t a simple answer. If staff go off sick, especially in the hospitality industry, exactly who will replace them.

One restaurant owner had to close his establishment before New Year when his workforce plummeted from 24 people to just five in the week before Christmas, as staff fell ill with Omicron.

And here’s a little double whammy Brexit bonus with restaurateur Russell Norman telling the BBC that since Brexit, “there just are not pools of enthusiastic people waiting in the wings who are available for restaurant work”.

Ah Brexit, the gift that keeps on giving.

But if staff staying away from work while they self-isolate, there is potentially another problem waiting in the wings to make us ill.

By the nature of the hospitality industry, many workers are on zero hours contracts and, as a result of falling consumer confidence over fears of catching Covid and venues deciding to close or reduce opening times, many have seen their hours cut dramatically.

There is a fear that if workers only suffer with mild Covid symptoms, some will continue to go into work, even if they test positive.

So don’t be surprised if the cumulative effect is we end up in a situation with some kind of lockdown before too long.

As with everything with this Government, dither and delay is the norm and we pay the price.

  • On another topic, I watched the Downton Abbey film over the holidays. Of course, it harks back to a time of patronage, inherited wealth and privilege, a class system where everyone knows their place because of an accident of birth.

Have we moved on from those days? Maybe not as much as we would have hoped and you only have to look at the New Year’s Honours list to see that. Olympic cyclist Laura Kenny, now Dame Laura, summed it up best when she said: “We just ride bikes”.

I think it’s time to scrap the honours system but I will, however, make exceptions for those who are ‘ordinary’ people who have done good things. Their work deserves recognition.

  • One final thought, I notice that the list of the most popular baby names of 2021 has been published. So hooray for the little Muhammads, Noahs, Olivers, Olivias, Sophias and Lilys.

But as someone whose name was once described as the most boring in the world, spare a thought for the Clives, Daryls, Dwaynes, Barbaras, Berthas and Doreens of this world as their names are in danger of dying out completely.

For what it’s worth, neither of my two forenames has appeared on the list of top 100 names in a long, long time.