Living with Covid

  I'm listening to the back catalogue of some podcasts, and one of them I'm up to just over two years ago.  You know, back when the pestilence first hit.

    They were talking about social distancing in the last episode I heard.  And about how some events were starting to be cancelled.  And in the one I'm listening to as I write this, they're talking about how they're having to postpone their live shows they'd scheduled.  They were saying how they hoped it was only April's shows which would have to be cancelled, and hopefully 'corona' would be done with by May.  How hopeful, and yet naïve, were those days!

    This particular podcast is made by two American ladies.  They made a PSA about how criminals were reported to be showing up to peoples' homes wearing hazmat suits, insisting they be allowed in and then robbing the place.  It was apparently just a rumour, not real crimes, but I can imagine how scary even that notion would've been, on top of everything else.  (We just had muggings -allegedly- over toilet rolls over here, which was bad enough!)

    Now, we're resigned -apparently- to living with Covid (it's literally the government's 'strapline').  It still feels weird walking into a premises without wearing a mask.  I'd been so used to it for so long.  (I still choose to wear a mask a lot of the time, but these days I do sometimes forget it and then have to go without.)

    Also, I still get that moment of borderline panic whenever someone coughs in my presence.  It makes me want to leap away from where they're standing, possibly making some gesture to ward off the evil eye or something!  (This isn't altogether new, I've had some extremely nasty colds in the past, and possibly the flu.  So I'm really not keen on these sorts of viruses, as you can imagine!)  And this happens a lot on trains.  Something about boarding a train makes peoples' hygiene go out the window, apparently.

    I don't really understand how the government believes they're able to monitor the situation and whether to reintroduce control measures.  Nobody's routinely testing any more (unless of course they work in health and social care).  The cynic in me says they've NO intention of monitoring (unless hospital admissions begin to skyrocket, again).  They're more concerned about stirring up activity within the economy, now.  This is why they want us all back to working in offices, again.

    I get that the economy is important.  But I just don't see why they need to dictate that we should be back working in offices, when working from home contributes SO much more to work-life balance for an awful lot of people.  And, I believe it was the lockdowns and temporary business closures which likely did the damage to the economy, not working from home.  True, I'm not buying train tickets anywhere near as often, but I'm definitely still spending money in my local shops (in fact more so than when I was commuting to the office, as I've got the energy to walk to the shops lunchtime/at the weekend) and I'm sure others are, too.

    My family and I have managed to avoid getting the virus, as I write.  I'm desperately hoping it stays that way, because I don't need long Covid on top of existing chronic ill-health.  A colleague has wound up in that position, and to say they're struggling is really only barely covering it.  Plus, I've had less than half the number of cold viruses on average per year over the 2 years of the pandemic, compared with when I was commuting by train and stuffed into a crowded office with too many other staff. 

    My family and I are all triple vaccinated (and will take up any further boosters which might be offered).  But, as we've learned, that doesn't necessarily prevent infection altogether.

    So, here's to annual Covid booster shots, in my view, please.  And, to continuing hand hygiene, etc etc PLEASE.  Thank you.

Photos: all photos from Unsplash, unless otherwise specified - eyes graffiti photo by Nick Fewings (apologies, credit was given for the majority of these in previous blog posts but I no longer have the relevant info to hand).  Let me know in the comments if any of the photos is your work, and I'll work with you to add the credit in this post.

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