Well you know, we had a lockdown. And then that didn't work, so we went into tiers. And then that kind of worked but the government decided it didn't, so we went into 'local' lockdowns'. And then we went from that back into tiers, and then from tiers into more lockdowns, and then from lockdown back into more strict tiers. So while Boris doesn't want to get the blame for 'even one death is unnecessary', he's going to inherit a whole lot of: - Mass unemployment - Higher taxes - Increased deaths from undiagnosed conditions over at least the last year - Increased strain on the NHS for undiagnosed conditions over at least the last year And for what? A virus - in the UK - with an average age of death of 82, and a survival rate so high it doesn't matter because 'even one death'. For sure it sucks to get (I got it), but this is like, the West's best crack at authoritarian nanny state at this point. Fish be damned.
At least in the UK they made some effort to replace the wages of people laid off when their companies were shut down. It beats being dumped on the unemployment system, when the unemployment system can't cope because the state fuhrer is too busy setting up a special portal so people can snitch on businesses that aren't cowering in fear. But you're certainly right, with a survival rate north of 99% (and north of 99.9% for those who aren't particularly vulnerable) one has to wonder why it's so necessary to shut everything down. There's so much talk of anything other than cowering in fear being a case of "risking lives for the sake of a haircut, a meal, a night out, whatever is deemed trivial" but nobody thinks twice about getting in the car to get their hair cut, go for a meal etc. Getting in the car and driving to get a haircut also risks your life and the lives of others. People are so afraid that they don't know whether that person on the street might infect them but we've been living for years not knowing whether that person on the street might push them into traffic, stab them or whatever else that we just don't think about it. But throw a virus with a 99.9% survival rate into the equation and any sense of reason or perspective vanishes. We're told it might cause long term lung damage and that's a Very Bad Thing. You can tell how much the government is concerned about that based on how willingly they accept high taxes on tobacco products. It might cause heart damage, which is also a Very Bad Thing. People are very concerned about damage to their heart, as anyone can see by looking at how many cars are waiting in the drive-through to buy heavily processed garbage at places like McDonalds. But, you know, gotta live in fear. I still struggle to see the hugely excessive responses as much more than a trial run for something else. Maybe I'm just jaded, who knows...
I sold a thing today through one of those marketplace sites, and being concerned for my safety the buyer came to my house. Do you know, he knocked on the door, took 20 steps back, put on a mask, and we yelled at each other for a bit before coming nominally closer to do the deal -- to see the thing, to hand over the money, etc. Perhaps he had some health condition or circumstance I don't know about, and that's fair enough, but if he didn't, then it's utterly ridiculous how fearful that guy was. I quite like social distancing, but come on... But yeah, mass solitary confinement works, I guess. When did we decide that safety and avoiding death were the aims of life? As Tango said, imagine if they did the same for the seasonal flu, or heart disease, or cancer. Scotland is going into a 4-week lockdown because of Christmas, and that new even-more-contagious strain, and a whole 36 new cases -- not deaths, just cases. It's a sick joke.
On the beach a few months ago I saw a few fishermen sitting in the full glare of the sun, on their own, at least 300 feet from anyone else, with masks on. To each their own I guess, but it's hard to see who they were trying to protect. Your buyer seems to make even less sense. If you're that immune compromised, don't buy stuff from strangers. Simples.
How about those people who are driving alone in their cars with masks on? Those are the real masochists.
Can you imagine self-isolating for two weeks, after multiple affirmations of a '5 days Christmas', only to be told a few days prior to nevermind, because now each nation is locking down, going into tier 4, etc. etc. etc.? I think a normal person would be in tears, and yet they all grumble before conceding against some supposed 'greater good', or 'it's for the best'. The fear of COVID was running out, so now there's a new variant. Good news! The vaccine is still effective against the virus that doesn't kill 99.9% of people who contract it, but we must take preventative measures! Or else the NHS, who's hospital beds and we removed, will run out of hospital beds! They say the three-week lockdown in March (over here) went on for 3 months, but if we're being honest, it never ended. Those stupid people who want the freedom not to act!
Back in April Pennsylvania's state fuhrer imposed a lockdown that was supposed to last for two weeks. At the end of June the last counties moved into green status, which still wasn't back to normal. Apparently the virus is very clever because it knows whether you're drinking alcohol and knows whether you're eating a meal. It's very malicious because apparently it wants to kill us all. And there was me thinking a virus was just a primitive strand of RNA with little purpose beyond replicating itself.
I don't really understand that although you never know how far they are going. Once in a while if I'm going to two stores with a short drive between them I'll just leave a cloth on my face rather than fussing with it twice. Mine is open at the bottom so I can breathe. The fuhrer can say what he likes, when something makes it hard to breathe I'm not wearing it.
On another note, it is curious to see the way so many talk as if a lack of a mask mandate is the same as a mask prohibition. If you want to wear a mask but aren't required to by some fuhrer's diktat, nobody is stopping you.