Across parts of the country this week, nursery workers will don plastic aprons and gloves. With more than 500 confirmed cases of a life-threatening virus in England so far this year, and one child in Liverpool having died this month, many nurseries are introducing emergency infection control measures such as PPE and social distancing.
Stop me if you’re getting a rush of deja vu. It is striking how news of the current rise in measles cases, and the early response to it, could easily be describing the coronavirus pandemic. Except, unlike at the start of Covid, when our only defence was lockdowns, a safe and effective vaccine – the MMR jab – has long existed for measles. The problem is, many of those at risk – about one in six children aged five and under – have not had one or both doses. Watching nurseries bring back their Covid hygiene protocols while health professionals urge more people to get vaccinated, it feels as if we are blindly going over an old routine, desperately scrubbing surfaces with disinfectant and denial.
