By Press Release
It’s a fact; more people die every day in traffic collisions than are dying with Covid, so why allow us to drive? The government’s latest Covid release plan completely divides us; you’re either in the ‘throw away your mask’ camp, or willing to shield until the virus goes away, which won’t ever happen!
Honestly, the conversations I overhear on a daily basis reveal some astonishing ignorance. As a country we seem more divided than we were about Vote Leave which, in case you missed it, was five years ago. This past 18 months all we’ve heard and read about is the hateful virus, and most of that was just someone’s opinion. We all love to be scared; why else was the movie Jaws made, other than to terrify us into throwing our popcorn skyward and never swimming in the sea again?
Only two in a million children are at risk of losing their lives to Covid, so why deny all kids an education? That’s not a proportionate response, is it? Even in normal times, Island children lag behind the rest of the country academically, so ‘just in case’ self-isolating must stop. Our kids need to be sitting at desks, eyes front and working hard to catch up, anything less is an utter disgrace. If the recent absences continue in September, it will be the teachers and government responsible, not the virus. The only kids who may benefit from the vaccine are over 10s with health problems. Just give them the jab now.
The world’s population is around 7.8 billion, the number of people who’ve been infected with Covid, 182 million – just 2.3 per cent. Of those, just 0.04 of one per cent died with it. Yes, every loss would have been deeply felt, but for the overwhelming majority of us, statistically, the virus wasn’t much to worry about. So why keep the planet shut down at a cost of trillions? Our politicians, guided by those well-meaning scientists responsible for public health, panicked and an eager media backed them up. Unarguably, Covid is horribly real and was almost certainly created in that Wuhan laboratory, but it’s not only the Chinese who do terrible things, is it?
Months after the crisis began we were ordered to wear facemasks and told to keep that daft 2 metre distance. The young rebelled first, almost as soon as they realised they were not going to die. I can’t say I blame them, doing as you’re told can only be tolerated for so long before you just want your life back. You question the need for strict rules when the politicians and experts lecturing you about restrictions hypocritically ignore them. Professor Ferguson, Dominic Cummings and Matt Hancock were all at it, and don’t forget our own ‘just half a sausage’ MP – presumably he could afford a £10,000 fine, but predictably, he didn’t get one!
Just like education, entertainment is a vital part of life; we need performance art. Concerts and theatres like Shanklin are as good for our mental well-being as exercise. Cancelling the entire industry and driving venues, organisers and artists to near bankruptcy was utter madness and should never happen again. We were all sold a dystopian nightmare; that our hospitals would turn us away when we couldn’t breathe. Of course, there was pressure, but the NHS coped and a return to normal is way past due, so let’s ditch the masks and let the music play – just remember to drive carefully.
