When I arrived recently in the UK for the first time in six months, it coincided with warnings from the government there that the introduction of a further nationwide lock-down might be unavoidable because of rising Covid-19 infections across the country. Regional restrictions, mostly in the north of England, were already in place. I was intrigued to understand better why that was the case.

JFK airport had been almost empty when I left New York and there had been fewer than fifty passengers on my flight to London. Touching down at Heathrow, things seemed largely familiar. Everyone – passengers and airport staff – were wearing masks. It was only after driving to Canterbury that big differences started to be apparent. Walking around the ancient city that afternoon, I was shocked to find myself almost the only person wearing a mask on the street. Mask-wearing in shops and supermarkets was ubiquitous, but the moment those same, apparently careful people stopped shopping, they discarded their masks. Restaurants, pubs, and coffee shops – all very busy – had complied with social distancing rules imposed by the government – but no one was wearing masks while they ordered and waited for their food. Completely different from my experience during the past six months in NY where everyone wears a mask all the time in public.

I looked for some explanation and found none. Some I spoke to pointed to the low levels of infection in Kent, but I’ve heard from friends in other parts of the UK that mask-wearing, other than in stores, is uncommon all over the country, even in regions and cities where rates of infection are high. What’s going on? Pandemic fatigue? Perceived invulnerability among the young and healthy? I’ve no idea, but it’s making me anxious. At this rate it’s going to be a hard winter for the UK.