Stephen Hawkins said:
Hi Jozz,
Testing may well prove to be a useful tool in the fight against this dreadful virus, but it cannot yet establish whether or not an "A Symtomatic" person is carrying the virus.
Similarly, a vaccine, though very welcome, will not prevent the vaccinated person from carrying or spreading the virus in the short term to those not yet vaccinated.
It now seems, at least in the UK, that the government's medical advisors are slightly at odds with the politicians over the advice being broadcast on TV & Radio. Given this divergent thinking, it becomes a question of "who do we trust?"
The issue of trust is a matter for the individual, but my money is on the medical professionals who have no axe to grind.
Kind Regards,
Stephen.
Stephen,
My money is on just about everybody catching it sooner or later, just like the common cold. At least a dozen of our friends, as well as ourselves, believe we've already had it. Symptoms varied among us, but as none of us was hospitalised then we don't know what we had. Most of us had Flu vaccinations in October 2019, so theoretically we can write flu out of the script.
Most European countries appear to have passed the peak of the pandemic, and I would imagine that the risk factor now needs to be reassessed. It appears that Covid19 is with us indefinitely, the same as the common cold. That being the case we're going to have to learn to cope with it. With the best of respect to the scientists and medical specialists, no amount of theorising is going to make it go away.
Different countries have different theories on how to plan for the future, and the global financial situation will have a major impact on what happens next, and where it happens.
Here in the UK the general attitude now appears to be that the public has done all it can to minimise the spread of infection, and it's time to open the cages for people to take any precautions of their own volition, or not, as the case may be.
The UK currently has the third highest death toll per capita in the world, despite all and any of the lockdown measures that have been implemented. Belgium is currently at the top of that macabre league, followed by Spain, whose toll is only marginally worse than ours. Sweden never implemented any lockdown measures, and they only topped the league for a single week. They are now in sixth place.
Is lockdown working? I think it depends on whereabouts in the world you are, and whether you have wall to wall people, like a large part of the UK has.
My own philosophy is that we just need to pick up the pieces and get on with things. Social distancing is impossible if just 1% of the population choose to ignore it. I'd hate to be a doorman at a venue where 31 inebriated people turn up and all demand entry. Next week in the UK we can meet 6 people in our gardens, providing we all stay 2 metres apart. What if it rains, or somebody chokes on their barbecue burger? If I go to my local supermarket I'll pass within inches of at least 60 people walking in the "wrong" direction, but that's OK, as I might be walking in the wrong direction at times myself, if I forget something in the previous aisle.
Please let us bin all those senseless mathematical calculations and let's just use common sense.