The covid restrictions – all of them – were wrong. Some of us could see this at the very beginning. Of course we were denounced as conspiracy theorists or because we weren’t scientists, we had no right to speak out, because we didn’t know what we were talking about. However, this is all fallacious, because you do not need to be a specialist in a subject to smell the proverbial rat. All it takes as some fairly basic understanding of things like biology, history, common sense and an ability to decipher the statistics when they come out – and not least an ability to observe. Now, the narrative is collapsing, yet still some cling to it like a shipwrecked sailor hanging onto the small plank of timber in the stormy seas.
The case for relaxing is not clear cut
As often with Covid, the evidence is unclear.
The restrictions should never have been put in place at all, so relaxing them – and doing away with them completely is not only the right thing scientifically, it is the moral thing to do. Not one of these restrictions made any difference to the spread of an airborne virus – a virus that was massively over egged and was nothing like as dangerous as we were led to believe. The covid porn went into overdrive to the point where people really believed that contracting it was a death sentence. Yes, it was, for around 1% of those who got it and they were already frail through a prior condition or elderly and approaching end of life.
For the rest, it was a nasty bout of flu. The virus did exactly what anyone who has an O Level or equivalent in biology would expect, it mutated to less virulent variants. Well, I didn’t see that coming. Yes, I did, actually. I was saying this two years ago, yet those charlatans in SAGE were decrying the omicron variant as being dangerous in December in direct contradiction of the observable evidence before them – and that moron Half Whitty was telling us with a straight face how this was going to be a difficult winter. Where is that poltroon now, anyway? Nope, not seen his pompous fizzog recently, have we? That’s because like his predecessors in the role, he has been wrong. Consistently and catastrophically wrong to the point where he gives Pantsdown Ferguson a run for his money. Now, of course, he cannot hide it. The game is up. So what is there now for him to do? He can’t come out and do a briefing with his ridiculous charts as it’s not just the sceptics and anti-vaxxers who see him for being wrong, those who complied are seeing it now. Meanwhile his sidekick Penfold jumped ship weeks ago.
These people give science a bad name. They undermine the process, they lie, cheat and deceive and now it’s all falling apart as these things always do. You can only keep this kind of thing going for a limited time. The Soviets did well to manage seventy years, but this one was always going to collapse long before that. Partly because people are waking up to the fact that the world really didn’t come to an end, people aren’t dropping dead in the streets and despite all the antisocial distancing, masks and vaccines they still got it and recovered, so why did they stock up on toilet rolls and baked beans?
And also because more and more are saying that enough is enough and people are seeing it despite the media’s attempts to suppress it. When the tow trucks sent to remove the Canadian truckers from Ottawa promptly turn up and cross the line to join the people they are supposed to remove and when ordinary people troll the police by turning up en masse with empty fuel cans, you know the tide is turning. Trudeau’s response was the army and the army said ‘no’ so now what? Without the army, what can he do? And the world can see that, like Ceausescu, he has lost the plot and with it, his power. His attempts to steal the funds raised for the protestors has worked against him. When people switched to a different fund raiser that was less likely to cave, and that fund raiser was threatened by the Canadian state, they too said ‘no.’ So now what? When people refuse to comply there is little that can be done for we are many and they are few.
Canada, along with England are the cracks in the narrative and the protests are spreading. It is no longer the outliers who were always opposed, this is gathering momentum. The BBC is out of step here along with the rest of the media, but across the world, ordinary people are deciding that they will put a stop to it. This is a good thing and a joy to see. The politicians are on the back foot. This, too is a good thing to see.
Hospital cases are falling and, despite the large wave of Omicron infections, overall deaths have not risen above what would normally be seen in winter.
So not a problem then.
Nonetheless, there are also grounds for caution. Infection levels remain high.
See your statement above. It’s winter, so a winter bug is going to be infecting people. This is normal. Get over it.
It seems we are poorly served by these so-called ‘big brains’. It seems to me that it is no accident that so many academics can’t find the right leg of their trousers in the morning and that so many bright kids with aptitude drop out and build business empires without the need of ‘higher education’.
When I was a driving instructor, I taught such people to drive. It was enlightening to say the least.
Please delete duplicate comment. My keyboard and I are having relationship issues.
Sorted.
You could make a reasonable argument that in the early days of COVID, when there was a great deal of uncertainty, some precautionary actions were desirable. More to do with political optics than science – no-one wanted to see piles of infected grannies and grandads stacked like firewood in hospital corridors.
But after that the politcal optics were against relaxing the lockdowns for fear of revealing the gullibility of governments world wide. In addition the Establishment, the Blob, got a taste for seeing rigorous control extended over a previously awkward population. Whatever next? More controls over drinking and diet? Fixing education to deliver approved content? Censorship of public discourse?
Now, fortunately, some governments are unwinding the restrictions. In Britain the early roll out of vaccines gives them an excuse to ‘get back to normal’. Apparently Boris stood firm against imposing a lockdown over last Christmas. Yet another reason for the Boris haters and shroud wavers to attack him, perhaps?
You could, but that window was incredibly brief.
“You could make a reasonable argument that in the early days of COVID, when there was a great deal of uncertainty, some precautionary actions were desirable”
No you can’t. The empirical data was there for all to see, hence why I concluded on ~20 February 2020 it was no worse than Flu, a nothingburger, and was posting so a few day later when more data confirmed
For all to see: The Diamond Princess petri dish on every news broadcast
<0.3% fatality rate, all over 70
I looked – as a risk aware, but not risk averse speedy biker – to determine risk to me. Thus, I have ignored every restriction and continued as normal
Admit wrongness and don't make excuses and weasel out
The Diamond Princess nailed it frankly. Prior to that, there was some uncertainty due to the propaganda coming out of China – however as I said, it was a very brief window, but once we had proper information, we knew what we were facing.
As far as restrictions are concerned, not one of them was based on any rational scientific evidence. Ergo, none of them should have been applied regardless of how dangerous the virus was because they didn’t work and would never work.
“the BBC is out of step along with the rest of the media” must be the understatement of the century.
Otherwise a great article (I have not been here before and I like your mind)
I am a master of the British understatement.
I think those even half awake realised it was overhyped and beyond all reason from about 10 days into 3 weeks to flatten the curve.
The aftermath for many including those who have awakened since is that all trust in the govt media establishments police etc is gone, and i doubt it will return in our lifteimes if it ever does.
Personally speaking i’m bitterly disappointed in my fellow countrymen, who surrendered and went meekly along with this utter tosh, in my immediate circle and colleagues we’re down to single figures of those i would ever trust again…notably my east european asiand and black friends and colleagues proved generally to be made of sterner stuff, at least able to question events and not rushing to be forst ion the jab queue.
The worse aspect has been those literal fascists, many in media, who crawled out of the woodwork, calling for incarceration/forced injections.
All through my life i would have said to anyone that what happened in mid 20th century central europe would never have happened in this country, how naive i have been, they were here all along just waiting for their chance.
Be amused at the back pedalling but never forget who they were.
Tell me about it. Some of whom surprised me for I thought they were made of sterner stuff.
“Where is that poltroon now, anyway?”
Don’t worry. All those liars, spinners, charlatans and spivs will be sitting back and waiting for their knighthoods, consultancies, golden handshakes and sideways promotions: in other words, business as usual. Their victims, of course, will be picking up the tatters of their lives, jobs and businesses: business as usual.
Whitless is back lecturing in uni. So is Penfold. Pantsdown is still at ICL but doing a bit of moonlighting for the Beeb.
In the 1960s, I lived next to a PhD (Biology) – 6 years at University. One evening he asked for help as he had no light in his lounge.
He did not know…
Light bulbs do not last for ever.
That light bulbs could be purchased.
That light bulbs can simply be replaced.
That if other lights are OK, suspect that the bulb has died.
Switch off the electricity before changing the bulb.
As we used to say about our Vicar; “Too heavenly minded to be of earthly use”
Like remoaner/rejoiniacs, “climate change” zealots, milk float/heat pump whores, various race grifters etc etc etc.
It’s the sheer mindlessness that takes your breath away. Maybe I’m deluding myself, but I like to think that these pseudo religions are about to hit the brick wall of reality as well.
It is truly disturbing to see SO many people persisting with what I suspect they have always known is utterly pointless.
Now comes the blame game (sorry, “systemic failure”). Wonder if they have the wit for the distraction too? Can’t imagine Vlad will oblige in Ukraine so it will have to be something else.
“why did they stock up on toilet rolls and baked beans?”
Well, if you are going to eat a lot of baked beans you are going to need a lot of toilet roll and if you have a lot of toilet roll, one way to use it up is to eat a lot of baked beans …
It’s called The Circle of Life (as Elton John sang in the film The Lion King).
“why did they stock up on toilet rolls and baked beans?”
When the plod were enforcing house arrest, accosting people in the streets, 2 weeks quarantine and other oppressive measures, having some food in the house seemed a good idea…
And when we caught the Dreaded Lurgy and a had a few days of feeling very low, being able to open and microwave a can or two was a great help.
With JTT retailing, if a fraction of the 65 million people buy just a few cans extra….Now add media hysteria, gross exaggeration and scare mongering…those newspaper pages/BBC drivel-sessions don’t fill themselves you know. It’s much easier (and safer) to make things up than to actually do journalism. Just ask Tommy or Julian.
See also the petrol shortage that wasn’t. Entirely media driven.
“When the plod were enforcing house arrest, accosting people in the streets, 2 weeks quarantine and other oppressive measures, having some food in the house seemed a good idea…”
So stripping the shelves bare of toilet roll, thus denying everyone else, then flogging 15,000 rolls on ebay for a massive profit was a ‘good idea’?
For everyone’s information, at the time the shelves were bare in Tesco, there was no shortage at places like Bargain Booze, and at the normal prices. It just turned out that no one thought of shelf stripping there The Co-Op too, though they had rationed it. It was the small corner shops (and by my research into it at the time – mainly asian owned) that did all the shelf stripping around here.
Had to smile in Tesco though, most of the shelves were bare and that included the booze shelves, but Corona beer had been left untouched. Same with the Vegan food.
I know that I bang on about masks a lot but I see them as a really useful indicator of public opinion. I was in a B&M store in Sunderland yesterday and the masks were quite rare. In Aldi back in East Yorkshire this morning, about half and half. Hardly any masks at the gym, just a handful among the parents who come to watch their kids’ swimming lessons on Saturday morning. There are still a lot of them about, and that is a bit depressing, but I think that the trend is still downwards. There is some hope of a return to sanity.
Stony, I believe that masks, to a lot of people, have become the new ‘comfort blanket’. There will always be a section of bedwetters who will never stop wearing them. Last time I went to the shops, mask/no mask people I’d guess at around 50/50. The majority of mask wearers were women by an easy margin.
Personally I don’t care, it’s now their personal choice, as long as I’m not being forced to wear one I don’t see any need to try and convert others to my opinions. These people are vulnerable to fear, that’s all, and probably has a lot to do with how their parents treated them as children.
My strategy throughout the mask mandates was to wear one if going into a shop, but wear it under the chin. No one gave me a second look, I was never challenged by anyone. It seems to me that all this mask/anti mask BS was yet another thing hyped up in the media. Another thing is that although its now personal choice, places like Aldi and Tesco are still urging customers via periodic tannoy announcements to wear them. Sainsbury’s also stated that it will keep its mask policy.
The one incident I can recall concerning masks was at the Tesco garage. A note on the kiosk door said that non mask wearers had to pay at the kiosk window, so that’s where I headed. I did know that its incredibly difficult to get a card reader in the well under the window, and as I approached the assistant beckoned to me to go in. I gestured back that I had no mask so she held one up and waved me in. I shook my head to tell her that wasn’t going to happen, and made her struggle to get the card reader.
Mask wearers: Some maybe, really have been terrified, some, perhaps, believe they are being reassuring to the terrified, but that segues into plain virtue signalling, and so on into wanting their satisfying state of self-righteousness to continue for ever.
Asda today. Masks down to about 20% at a guess. None at all at the gym, maybe fit people feel less vulnerable, even the old ones.
One guy in the gym wore a mask today. Plonker. Hardly ever see anybody wearing them at any point when the gym was open. Although, this is in South London, gym is 60% six foot black guys and I’m probably the only white guy without tattoos. I’d be very surprised if more than 50% of members are vaccinated.
Northern Ireland lifted its Covid laws on Tuesday
Wednesday: 50% to 60% still wearing face nappies
Source: NEXT, Donegall Place, Belfast
I suspect marks were encouraged as an outward sigh of compliance with the cult. If you wore a mask you were one of the enlightened ones who cared for others as opposed to one of the unwashed haters
I suspect marks were encouraged as an outward sigh of compliance with the cult. If you wore a mask you were one of the enlightened ones who cared for others as opposed to one of the unwashed haters