Ned and particularly Eamonn, my thoughts are with ye.
This is a huge test of how our collective imaginations work: as with climate change I like to think that I have a realist's view of the immediate future, that I've informed myself and run the numbers as best I can, but it's still too much for me to really grasp. When our unflappable CMO Tony Holohan points out where we are on that terrifying graph (the beginning of the beginning), I cock a snook at the still-in-denialists and "why weren't we prepared" crowd that explode daily across Irish social media, but I'm actually not one whit better. One moment I'm laughing with the kids over some crude bit of wordplay while trying to decide whether to watch a DS9 Season 3 episode or Antman & the Wasp, the next I shake with the realisation that we're all standing on a rapidly-draining beach waiting for the tsunami to rush in, and then it's back to Quark's latest attempt to offload those self-sealing stembolts.
Wouldn't be surprised if Boris had faked a positive result or deliberately infected himself just to find a way out of being the incompetent in the driving seat. I might do the same.