Thread by @Sakura509

"Many people who lived through the last war - or whose parents have vivid recollections of it - will tell you that they are infuriated by any suggestion that our present emergency is anywhere near comparable to that experience."

"No, our lives now are nothing like theirs in terms of either scarcity of food and comfort, or actual danger."

Yet, we face perhaps greater uncertainty and dangers than any could ever have imagined during the Wars.

Wars are self-inflicted and enemies have physical form!

There are dangers in viewing and misinterpreting historic events through the lens of contemporary life as we know it today.

Individuals are influenced by contemporary societal norms, values and threats; tangible or simply perceived.

"The material privations that are being imposed on our society may be nothing like as severe as those of the Second World War, nor are they likely to last anything like so long."

All Wars must end - all resources are finite!!

"But they are much more unnatural and especially alien to the human impulses that prevail in times of anxiety and loss of life."

"Human impulses", good and bad, but primitive nonetheless, have evolved and will continue to do so.

COVID-19 may be catastrophic but NOT apocalyptic!

"With very little apparent concern or consideration of the possible consequences, we are engaging in an unprecedented social experiment."

The underlying motivation and intent for mandating lockdown of societies worldwide, is not 'experimental' in nature but 'survival'!!

China led the way in enforcing lockdown when cases of 'unexplained pneumonias' were encountered; confirmed when conventional treatment for pneumonia was ineffective.

Other countries followed as @WHO highighted the level of threat facing the world.

Failure to mandate lockdowns would have resulted in widespread illness and deaths from COVID-19, as healthcare systems worldwide were overwhelmed and incapacitated.

The justification for lockdowns was clear - SAVE LIVES and buy time to develop understanding of COVID-19 threat.

"And this is being done - the undertaking of all this unquantifiable, speculative social intervention - in the name of that small proportion of people who are known to be, in truth, the only ones in real danger from the virus."

That perspective might be shared by some people.

BUT they would be wrong in taking such a narrow and self-focused perspective!!

It is still not known with certainty who will succumb to COVID-19 and who will not, or even the degree of their illness.

COVID-19, as with life, is a spectrum of greys - nothing is black or white.

Those that have died from COVID-19 are not limited to the category of individuals thought to be most vulnerable and therefore, at risk of serious illness or death due to COVID-19.

COVID-19 deaths have cut across entire societies, including babies, children and young adults - future generations of the world!!

The point, frequently made by scientists and medical professionals, is that knowledge and understanding of COVID-19 continues to develop and evolve.

The process of understanding COVID-19 will continue far into the future; making sense of previous related epidemics that have occurred with a lesser impact worldwide.

With hindsight, developing trends and patterns become blindingly obvious!!

"I, and presumably many of others (but not all, I realise) who are being protected at such cost, are fit to make judgements about how much danger we are actually in, and what matters most to us in this equation."

You may be able to judge what is right for you but NOT mankind!

"Since age is the main issue here, surely those in the relevant category count as grown-ups?"

COVID-19 deaths have cut across entire societies, including babies, children and young adults - future generations of the world!!

On the flawed #herd immunity' strategy -

"government’s experts realized ... that its policy would “likely result in hundreds of thousands of deaths”—potentially 250,000—and that burden on health systems would exceed their capacities and resources by as much as 8 times."

Imagine 250,000 excess deaths due to COVID-19 in a very short period of time!!

Consider the current necessary restrictions on funeral arrangements - even more extreme restrictions would have been essential!!

technologyreview.com/2020/03/16/905…

"Mortal illness - which must come in some form eventually? The inevitability of death?"

Yes, with age, comes a degree of wisdom and certainly a different perspective from having lived a full life.

Age is but a number in itself; a measure of time, lives lived and remembered.

However, responses to COVID-19 worldwide have as much to do with protecting future generations as they do with protecting current populations.

Those alive today, can plan for their lives tomorrow.

The young are known to be resilient and adaptable, as they will need to be in a future beset with future epidemics and even pandemics.

Lessons can be learned from the many responses adopted to manage the threat from COVID-19 but the young have a greater stake in their future.

"The most pernicious of these measures - the social distancing rule which makes an aberration of the most basic emotional need"

How often have we heard of people that disrespect our sense of 'personal space' and of societal norms in general?

New societal norms will evolve!

"So normal human interaction is to be suspended far, far into the future?"

This seems like an overraction and is almost unfounded hysteria!!

Uncertainty and unquantified threat naturally engenders a fear of the unknown.

As with AIDS, new societal norms evolved over time.

"When - and on what grounds - do we decide that this is over?"

They suggest that a vaccine for COVID-19 may be goal but this raises the question: What do vaccines do?

"A vaccine works by training the immune system to recognize and combat pathogens, either viruses or bacteria. To do this, certain molecules from the pathogen must be introduced into the body to trigger an immune response."

"These molecules are called antigens, and they are present on all viruses and bacteria."

publichealth.org/public-awarene….

Vaccines prevent disease BUT do they eradicate disease?

"Eradication means that intervention measures are no longer required, the agent, which previously caused the disease is no longer present."

"Elimination of a disease refers to the deliberate effort that leads to the reduction to zero of the incidence of infection caused by a specific agent in a defined geographic area."

Lockdown suppresses transmission of COVID-19 but does NOT eradicate it!

ourworldindata.org/eradication-of…

"Here is the more important question, to be asked of those on whose behalf all this damage is being done: is this what you want?"

Think NOT of yourself BUT of others and more significantly, future generations because the future is theirs.

"If you are inclined to say that it is not, why not write to your MP or petition the government and say so? Perhaps we could adopt that slogan immortalised by anti-war protesters: not in my name."

Individuals each have responsibility for their own life and of others in their care, but we must also safeguard others from unintended consequences of our actions.

This has even greater significance under threat from COVID-19 pandemic since others may die because of our actions.

telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/…

@highlighted

@threadreaderapp unroll, please