Health of the nation indeed. Every public health principle has been abandoned and Covid is the only game in town. Truth is, if you’re under 60 and in reasonable health Covid is no real risk (compared to life in general) but we are writing off a whole generation of people to fight a single disease which is not a reasonable strategy, in my opinion. Locking down and mask wearing is not doing much to control the spread of this, but it’s making everything else a whole lot worse.
Decades of reversing worldwide poverty has gone. Over 700,000 in the U.K. pushed into poverty with up to 150 million worldwide. Poverty will kill many, many times more than Covid will ever do and we’ve lost sight of that. It’s really not encouraging idiots or being hyperbolic, it’s just asking for some balance of risk when addressing the health of this and other nations.
Further hyperbole.
Every public health principle hasn’t been abandoned, and Covid isn’t the only game in town. We’ve been allowed and openly encouraged to exercise outdoors throughout this pandemic, the health of many people in the UK has never been better because of that. We’ve also been encouraged to phone and still go to the Doctor’s if we feel there is something that needs checking or treating, after there were fears that people - by choice - were avoiding doing so. Also my Mother has just come out of hospital yesterday having had her hip replaced, my Father was treated for a broken wrist recently, and one of my Aunties has been having cancer treatment through the Winter n’all.
Just because it’s a virus that probably wouldn’t be a risk to younger or healthier people, doesn’t mean they couldn’t pass it on to others who it would be. This is where the virus affects almost everybody, not just the elderly or vulnerable, because any of us could be putting others at risk through spreading it.
Nobody is writing off a whole generation of people to fight this disease. It’s only been one year of our lives and possibly affecting us for another couple, and we might have to slightly adapt the way we live long term, but that’s not written a generation off at all. I work with young people and I know a number who have taken up new hobbies. I have, and I have mates who have said they’ve changed the way they live health-wise. Some have said they will cut down on eating shit and drinking alcohol once things return to normal; my office mate is giving up drinking full stop. Covid may well result in a positive long term health outlook for this country that may never have happened if it weren’t for Covid. We could end up with a healthier generation rather than one that’s been written off.
Locking down and mask wearing is absolutely proven to control the spread of this virus. Scientists estimate that around 470,000 would have died in the UK with no restrictions in the first wave alone, and that’s with just the variant that was around then. With an unrestricted spread, a variant could have mutated that could have been extremely deadly. But lockdowns and mask wearing reduce the likelihood of that occurring, which is why we’ve kept the numbers well below 470k and kept the variants to a minimum.
Saying lockdowns and mask wearing doesn’t do much to control the spread is wholly false. It’s literally been proven to us through a year long life experience.
Your point about poverty is a good one. But decades of reversing worldwide poverty hasn’t gone, it’s just had a setback. And we need to make sure we aren’t exacerbating the problem and aiding the world getting back on its feet after Covid. To help do that we need to be doing as much as we can with lockdowns and mask wearing and vaccinations and post-lockdown restrictions even after vaccinations... because what good would the world’s efforts be if selfishness caused a mutation that bypassed the vaccines?
