Covid has not gone away

 

Image: Tip chiplanay

Covid has not gone away. In January it was the second leading cause of death in Australia and by now it might be top because our death rate has increased. But, it is okay , isn't it, it is only old people . The very people who built the strength, safety and security of Australia. The ones who spent their lives making this a prosperous, positive nation. It is okay if they die as long as we can have coffee, go on trips and be normal. The death rate for older people is not acceptable at all. While they are dying, younger people are dying too but no one seems to care. It is only a cold. Just mild really.  There was an article which tried to address this lack of care we had. In the end it assumed it wasn't our fault really. All very understandable. Killing old people is pretty normal and if we had the death rate we have been having this year for anything else, we would be acting on it. We have more than doubled our deaths this year form the previous two years. South Australia has just lost it. Until November 23rd 2021 we had four deaths from the pandemic. It has stayed that way from the beginning. Today we have 351. What is wrong with people?

Reinfection is undesirable, killing people is not nice, putting under 5s at risk is horrible. Forgetting we are coming into flu season and there are other Covid variants is high risk behaviour. So why do we not care? What is the matter with us? Doing what works is not hard and being a rebel without a clue is silly. We are not rebelling, though. We just aren't doing what works. We are not using preventative measures which make a difference. That is not rational. The statistics to do with Covid are starting to amass and picture is not pretty. Living in a disadvantaged area increases your chances of not surviving. 

While we are spouting election tripe we should focus more on our own health and welfare. The election campaign should not exclusively fill the airwaves when we need to stop putting ourselves at risk from a vile disease. Not wanting it is not sufficient reason to ignore it because we have to collaborate to get rid of it. 

For a start , it needs to be broadcast about the distance between primary vaccinations which ATAGI has just notified. They have changed this based on all the data they are collecting. We do have people who are spending all their time trying to help us get through this pandemic. We need to practice the art of noticing and, at the very least, put on a mask. 

Mask up!

 

No matter how you think or feel, the pandemic is not over. Coronavirus has not gone away. We have to fight and manage the spread as adults, not fanciful toddlers with the I want ,I want , I want. I don't want covid. I don't want others to get covid. It is horrible . According to our national statistics, 20s and 30s are getting the disease in huge numbers, but older people are dying from it. As politicians forgo mandates and restrictions they must have a knowledge that what they are doing with that is killing old people in significant numbers and subjecting younger people to repeated reinfections and the possibility of long covid. Avoiding hard and difficult conversations about the reality of this disease matters not one bit to the virus. It will infect any host it finds. 

Stephen Colbert addresses the situation in America where they changed mask mandates for flying and some people were caught up in that as they flew. The change was immediately effective. No consideration at all for the health and welfare of others. Flying in a closed box means you can quite easily catch what others have. Been there, done that  as many would have even before the pandemic. The bonus with this clip is you get a bit about the presidentials in France. Colbert is very good. 

Image : Integris
Politicians may be saying one thing but we have to continue to follow good health advice to put barriers between us and the transmission of this virus. More sick people will not make it possible to run businesses and organisations. You need happy, well people to do that. We need to look at how to manage the virus and keep people healthy. Uninfected. Masks help. They really help. Social disancing helps. We have to do the things which keep us effectively in control. Ramping up case numbers and deaths is not a good ploy . How is that helping? Why are we also risking illness to under 5s? Taking control does not equate to locking people up and down when we can achieve vaccination numbers, good air quality and we have RATs available so people can test themselves. For those who think RATs are unreliable , maybe we need to have a good look at that to see if they are or not and how to make them , and people using them, more effective. Dealing with the issues and roadblocks is better than open slather which will create more cases. That is what happens. 

We have increased our flu cases in South Australia. Nobody needs flu either. The advice is to wear masks and social distance and , at least, there is vaccine for under 5s. 

Wearing a mask is the least possible thing you can do besides nothing. Masks work!

Wear a mask

 

Image:  Integris Health

Wear a mask. They work. Our numbers are up again today and we need to keep them down. We don't need thousands of sick people. It is not normal to let a disease spread. Some think it's like measles and mumps and we should just get it over with. It isn't . We haven't looked very much at the implications of long covid and so many people always being sick. Pretending it's not there is not an effective deterrent. Believing safe and health preserving practices are restrictions means the communication isn't right. Not knowing covid symptoms by now means the listening is not right. Sensible health measures need to be adopted and believed. They are not restrictive. Being sick certainly hampers your lifestyle. We can do better. Wear a mask in public setting. They work!