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Originally Posted by Seeker
You're mixing two discussions. The first was that it was suggested that virus' get less deadly as they mutate and my point was that they don't necessarily and I listed some still deadly virus'.
If HIV was an airborne virus we would be in deep trouble though. HIV patients are given 2 different retrovirals because HIV can out maneuver one and even then with the virus classed as "undetectable" (viral load <50) it hides somewhere in the body - suspected to be at the brain stem.
Your other comment was about how you thought the government was introducing authoritarian controls and seemed to imply that losing 150+ people a day through covid was acceptable because people die of other things anyway. I do agree that the Tories are overstepping democratic rules but not in this particular area.
We have had almost 150,000 covid deaths some of which could have been prevented if lockdowns/quarantines were introduced sooner. Profit versus health? As I get older the latter becomes more important to me, when I was younger not so much, maybe.
We have had a couple of recent months of optional mask/social distancing rules which was irresponsible (imho) when we know that they reduce the risk of catching covid. Our inspiring leader demonstrated that mask wearing was not needed with his actions yet virus case rates remain stubbornly high. Those rules should not have been relaxed - they were not onerous restrictions and, even now, the rules are half baked.
This government seems to play fast and loose with safety rules. None of the incoming South African passengers (into UK) have been tested for omicron yet the Dutch found 10% of their incoming passengers from SA were carrying the new variant. Let's hope the new strain is weak.
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Fair challenge. My thoughts are not fully formed, or necessarily fixed, on any of this. I often 'think out loud' as I grapple with problems and I admit I am susceptible to confusion as I do.
The contrasting thought about the deadly viruses was have they mutated to any great extent (or at least at the pace being seen/expected with covid)? How to gauge 'steady state'? I don't know.
The deaths issue is intriguing and sensitive of course. I do not like the fact that so many people are dying of covid, I am simply left wondering how many of those are/were truly preventable now that it's out there. What's acceptable is of course a partly medical, partly moral, partly political issue as you rightly point out. I wonder if the covid episode has exposed many more people to the macro-level reality of how many people actually die on a daily basis and much of the debate is because lots of people may be struggling to comprehend it and compare with our micro-level existences. (I include myself in that - again I profess no particular expertise or righteousness.)
The mask thing is another contentious point. It could be argued that cases staying stubbornly high is evidence that masks do not really work (en-masse). It may feel like its a minor imposition but I feel we lose a lot socially by covering our faces. Again, I do not know what to conclude (though, as it happens, I have been trained in a some mask wearing activities over the years in my professional life so I like to think I decently appreciate the practical issues related to them.)
I agree that the 'half-baked' guidance/solution we have now, full of inconsistencies or anomalies, is making things harder to deal with for most. I am certainly just sick of it and probably mentally exhausted to the point of subconsciously thinking "to hell with it, it will be what it will be".