The Problem with Coronavirus is that it Doesn’t Understand Propaganda

Boris Johnson isn’t following scientific advice, he is running scared of a backbench rebellion by a minority of MPs in his own party.

Summary of article from the Yorkshire Byline Times

One of the troublesome things about coronavirus is that it doesn’t understand government propaganda or the mood of the country.

Most of us have simply had enough of being locked down and want the whole sorry episode to be over. The British government has chosen to foster that desire rather than to risk unpopularity by spelling out some of the harsh realities.

Unfortunately, a virus just grinds on regardless. It does what it is designed by evolution to do. It reproduces, and it continues to evolve.

The pandemic is not over, whatever the propaganda says

The British government has gambled on an early return to normality. The actual data indicates a situation that is far from normal, and it might be wiser to keep paying close attention the facts and respect the very real risks that remain.

As I write, the number of people in the UK being newly infected with coronavirus is 38,268 every day on average. Statistica, the leading international comparison site, shows that in the UK there were 230,661 new cases in the last week. That was only exceeded by India where there were 236,692 cases and the USA where there were 902,814. India has a population of a billion and the USA it is around 333 million; so the UK was top of the infection rate by some distance.

Vaccinations have not broken the link between infection and death

Back in April, we were told almost nightly by both the government and large sections of the media that this was exactly what was happening. The BBC issued a hugely optimistic bulletin that showed with clear graphics that deaths were down to only 45 a day and declining, and case numbers were down to only 2,763 a day. It looked like we were through the worst and life could get back to normal.

The death rate is now averaging over 135 every day. That is not a trivial number of deaths. It shows no sign of declining, and winter is on its way.

Last year the virus almost disappeared in the summer months and then came back with a vengeance as soon as the cold weather arrived. Something that covid infections are known to do.

Vaccinations are essential, but they’re not perfect

Undeniably, the best way to protect us all from the virus is to have a high proportion of the country vaccinated.

Getting yourself vaccinated genuinely does cut the chances of getting seriously ill. But it doesn’t remove those chances and it doesn’t stop an infected person from passing on the disease.

Plus, a proportion of double [fully] vaccinated people are still getting seriously ill, some are getting debilitating conditions like long covid, and some are ending up in hospital where a small number die.

Full story at the Yorkshire Byline Times