In 2020 when restrictions were first announced, we were told “vulnerable” people would need to isolate and that was later revised to “shielding”. Originally, the vulnerable included the over 70s and we had a group delivering food parcels to the over 70s until a Sunday Times article questioned it and the rules were revised to not include the over 70s. That was when many of us realised the government was ill-prepared and elderly people like me must take care of ourselves.
Food supplies
Food supplies were important and of course, I also needed masks. I did have a couple of FFP 2 masks that I would wear to go for my vaccinations. My first attempt at getting food supplies was to buy a couple of 25 Kg bags of potatoes. At least I wouldn’t starve because my freezer was fairly full. I donated to the local coronavirus support group too but thankfully I didn’t need them. I also contacted my neighbours and I was offered support from a number of people.
Worse than flu
One of my Facebook friends posted that the virus was “twice as bad as flu” so I had some idea what to expect should I catch covid and I used Facebook to encourage others to obey the restrictions. Many people didn’t take the crisis seriously and there was much derision on Facebook. There were people who were even holding parties and we now know that included members of the government and civil servants. There was a clear lack of leadership and we now know the virus spread in hospitals and in care homes and the death toll has just kept mounting over the past 2 years.
Whatever happened to covid?
So testing has stopped and there are no restrictions whatsoever. What happened to covid? Is it so mild that we no longer need to protect the most vulnerable? According to the BBC, we still have over 2000 deaths a week and one person in 17 infected. With no testing, those figures are just extrapolated from ONS figures and it would appear that asymptomatic cases could account for another million people spreading the disease far and wide. Where is the advice for the millions of people suffering from covid? It is no good phoning your doctor, you just get put on hold for an hour or more. Hospitals have virtually cancelled all but very urgent outpatient appointments and have just been doing a few telephone appointments. I do wonder if they could do more to help those waiting for outpatient appointments. The government has buried its head in the sand and is pretending covid no longer exists and we just have to “live with it”. People are still dying so that isn’t good enough. In China, they are still following a “zero covid” policy which people in the west have criticised but look at the death rate in China and compare it to the death rate in the US. China’s stratergy seems to be very much better. Obviously, we still need some restrictions such as masks in the UK and we still need those screens in shops, surgeries and so on. People should go to work but we would have fewer cases if people who know they are infected, did stay home and isolated.
Covid hasn’t gone away and is still causing deaths. While we should try to limit the economic impact we should put health before money.
A Zillion Ideas 
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