Every single MP should be made aware of what the potential damage could be. From the confirmed neuropathology and autoimmune issues, to the projected pathology and human lifespan we may expect. ->
This is critical for future planning in every area of life, from what age people should plan to start a family, to how mortgages and life insurance should be planned.
The government must be made aware that infecting every human in the country will
a) make very little difference to severe disease and death in the future in the long term (may even worsen this due to organ failures)
b) cause terrible strain on the economy and health system
The rampant circulation of disease may even impact Britains ability to defend itself over the next decade. If everyone is suffering from heart/lung/kidney issues, who is going to be fit to crew a submarine for example? Fly a fighter craft?
These are jobs that require tip top physical fitness and a good deal of reserve.
So please, for the future of the country, commence mitigation. You may yet spare a small percentage from the serious damage that will accumulate over time.
I don’t believe we need to be locked down forever to achieve it and there is good evidence for that.
I don’t believe it is a permanent state. Mitigations are needed at all times for many years so they need to be smart and tolerable.
When we have defeated COVID-19, and it will happen at some point in time, there will be other pandemics and epidemics. Other airborne diseases.
So no,life isn’t going to be perfectly safe again. It never was in the past. We can deal with it though, & maybe make it even better.
Better vaccines will come. Therapeutics are being made. We know how these viruses get about, and we know how to stop them getting about. Plenty to be hopeful about.
In my view lockdowns absolutely were needed in the beginning.
We weren’t ready.
People think that getting ready means vaccinate & that is partly the solution. We should have also been spending the last 18 months teaching people how to wear respirators, and cleaning the air.
Lockdowns still have a place in disease management… in countries that don’t have access to vaccines, in case of a resistant variant, and early in an outbreak to try and get ahead of the curve… but they are a very blunt instrument. Severe side effects.
The side effects of lockdown in an unvaccinated population are small compared to not locking down though.
But… if we have continuous settings that work to suppress disease transmission. Like ventilation and respirators… even early outbreaks may not propagate as well. ->
Doctors used to say kids don’t need anaesthetic or painkillers… because they did not recognise pain in very young children.
Kids do need protection from COVID-19. The very young may take years to be able to tell us what is happening.
If a child is younger but developmentally capable to wear a mask, I think it should be gently encouraged.
If developmental delay becomes apparent, you can refer to a specialist and work on the problem to help catch up. There are many ways to prevent it too. Clear masks, daily reading time etc.
CDC defines influenza as an epidemic disease. Even though it has been around for ages, and is never truly gone from the earth, it comes and goes in waves. COVID-19 will likely be similar.
Endemic illness stays at a constant level roughly.
I don’t think you can just decide to call something endemic at an arbitrary point in time… it has to show some characteristics of steady rate of disease.
I hope we don’t chose to allow COVID-19 to be at very high endemic levels, or have large epidemics. Would be better if it was sporadic outbreaks. Much safer.
All I have to say to this incredibly monstrous strategy is… the UK is actually just making more straw to burn.
A significantly weakened herd will be fighting the flu/rsv/rhinovirus etc this year.
Why would you try to protect a health system, instead of protecting people when you could do both by keeping case numbers low and incentivising vaccination?