I've written it before and I don't mind repeating it: there cannot be a more difficult situation for a leader than having to manage the coronavirus crisis which, in practice, is like being subjected to a stress test every day for more than nine months: permanently scrutinized by everyone and having to make decisions that not everyone likes. The antithesis of 21st century politicians who depend on public support as they do not know how to proceed in the face of popular opposition. People have, in general, got used to receiving instant answers and, if they don't get them, to protesting because they feel unattended and abandoned. The politician has become used to making decisions based on polls and running away like a startled cat from unpopular measures. It's partly that leaders know their firm hands will start to wobble and they won’t be able to withstand the pressure of social media.
In this respect, the predecessors of today's politicians and, a generation further back, their predecessors, had it much easier as the pressure of public opinion - which today is measured by minutes - was, only two decades ago, measured by days. This is not a minor change. A series of Covid-19 measures for New Year's Eve were expected for Monday, but in the end did not materialize. In fact, different government spokespeople had pointed out through in media comments that these new measures were coming. In the end, it has not happened and I don't criticize that, but I find it unprofessional to go on the radio giving early notice of one thing and then doing the opposite. It is also one of the problems arising from the desire of some politicians to speak without knowing exactly why, and without having anything to say.
On Monday night, I read that Catalan doctor Jaume Padrós says he does not understand the government as the number of infections and hospitalizations continue to grow, and that it is necessary to take more forceful and effective measures to stop the pandemic and, with New Year's Eve coming, drastically reduce mobility. I deduce that what he proposes is to extend the measures now in force in the Cerdanya and the Ripollès to the whole of Catalonia. Padrós, president of the Barcelona Medical Association, has gone into bat for one of the groups that suffers most in the frontline when the pandemic expands. I can already imagine the restaurateurs, for example, or the proprietors of the hotels that are open - also, for other reasons, some retailers - on the opposite side of the fence, counting the days until New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with the refrigerators already chock full to be able to serve their public on those days.
I’m sure that the final decision isn’t made yet - if it were, it would be the first time. The contention has begun.