Omicron part 2

[anna_wing]

Housekeeper and I continue to test negative.

Senior staffer is feeling better; one of the drivers is down, but not too seriously so far (fingers crossed).
My poor music teacher and her family, having survived Delta last year, got Omicron, but this time to a less severe degree. She was still sick for nearly a fortnight, though. The three doses of Sinopharm presumably helped a bit too. SHe is still suffering from fatigue and breathlessness from last year. Luckily she's not a singer.

I remain boggled at the European and UK decision to drop even the most basic precautions like masks right now. I understand that societally they have decided that the extra deaths are acceptable, that is their right as sovereign states, but isn't it still winter in the Northern Hemisphere? Masks protect against all respiratory illnesses, which are very prevalent at this time. Wouldn't it make more sense to wait until spring?

Comments

[hhimring]

Fingers crossed you continue to test negative and everone recovers before too long!

As for boggling at the UK decision, you are not the only who is boggled and some of us are right here...

[mtbc]

Well, Boris might be liking any positive distraction from the current scandal.

[hhimring]

No doubt of that!
But that still would not work for him if there were not enough people who that decision appeals to.

[anna_wing]

Good luck!

[flemmings]

The robust independence of the native English speaker (not to define it more narrowly than that) declare it's up to the individual to decide whether masks and vaccines work, and an amazing number of non-scientists think they don't. 'Well, stay at home and cower in fear if you like, but I want my life back!' Governments are betting that those are the majority in spite of what the polls say.

[anna_wing]

Asian countries were pleasantly surprised at the civic spirit and respect for reality generally displayed by the Australians and especially the New Zealanders (also robustly independent and mostly native English speakers). Though some of that is fraying now. But of course they have much closer relations with East and Southeast Asian countries at all levels, and large populations of Asian origin. There were still some nasty racist incidents in Australia in 2020, but I think those tailed off once the mass deaths started to happen in the US and Europe.

I think it's the weird false equation of not wearing masks with having one's life back that continues to puzzle us. Most of us do in fact have our lives back. We're just wearing masks as well. The two things are not incompatible; in fact they have to go together, assuming that the definition of "having your life back" should exclude a collapsed healthcare system.

[flemmings]

Everything you said about closer ties to Asian countries and Asian population is true, but I also (snarkily) wonder if it partly has to do with the ambivalent attitude to Britain. The Poms won't mask up? Well bugger that- we will!

Here it partly comes down to 'I don't like wearing a mask' so being required to is an imposition. Also, in my province at least, we went through two-or-is-it three lockdowns and people feel extremely threatened by same. The number of people who say 'it's not about safety, it's about keeping us under control and bringing in a dictatorship where we lose all our freedoms' is amazing. Very high levels of paranoia here. The same people are convinced that covid was never more than 'just the flu' or 'just a cold' and that a 97% survival rate means it can be ignored. The actual numbers of daily deaths or people in ICU don't register as anything that affects them.

I'm hoping these guys are a loud minority but my opinion of my fellow Canadians has dropped through the floor these last two months.

[anna_wing]

Ha. Could be. Applies to Americans too. I recall that both NZ and Aussie politicians had very robust responses (of the "sit down, sonny, you're in the wrong country") to people trying that "I just have some questions" approach.

[sovay]

Housekeeper and I continue to test negative.

Good!

Wouldn't it make more sense to wait until spring?

Many, many things would make more sense that assorted people in power are not doing, which lets you know that sense is not the point. (The governor of the state in which I live is just about to abolish school mask mandates as well as indoor business, which is so fantastically stupid. It's snowing here as we speak.)

[anna_wing]

Oh dear. Good luck to your underage population and their families...

[shirebound]

Wouldn't it make more sense to wait until spring?

Of course it would. *sigh*

[peripety]

So many of these decisions seem to be based on political expediency instead of on what healthcare experts are saying. Sigh. I know I'll keep wearing my mask for the foreseeable future in spite of the mandates ending.

I hope you continue to stay healthy :)

[anna_wing]

Thank you! Rules on masks in most Asian countries show no sign of being relaxed, thank goodness. And yes, I fully intend to wear them for the foreseeable future, especially when I'm travelling outside Asia. I used to do most of my holiday travel in winter, and masks both keep your face warm and protect you from other people's ailments, so I see no downside.

[bunn]

We still have mask mandates in Wales. Though I have to admit I was boggled when I went to my new art group, and though they started the session with everyone masked up, they had almost all taken their masks off by the end! (I didn't.)

It's the peer thing. I don't think they were thinking at all. If people around them were wearing masks, they would wear them. Once a few people took masks off to drink tea, that was it. No more masks!

[anna_wing]

We're allowed to take them off to eat and drink, and it's terribly easy to just forget to put them back on! Same as when you're driving. If you're alone, you don't have to, so I've seen people just step out of the car, and forget to put their mask on until some passer-by reminds them. It's happened to me too. Luckily I carry spares in my handbag at all times, just in case.