It is very strange how some things cause panic, paralysis and are described as a pandemic. Of course, I am referring to COVID-19 which has a unique status in the ‘cause of panic’ stakes and, indeed, appears to continue to be ascribed the status of ‘panic-worthy’. But what about the humble ‘flu which—while clearly trying to outdo COVID-19 in the fatality stakes—goes unnoticed? C’mon Matt Hancock, ‘flu is currently killing ten times more people than COVID-19, yet hardly gets a mention. If I were the ‘flu I would be lodging a complaint.
As explained in this column, ‘flu and pneumonia have been bigger killers than COVID-19 for several months. It seems that deaths from ‘flu are acceptable but deaths from COVID-19 are a tragedy. It is only possible to conclude that this is another manifestation of the exercise of control over the population and the manipulation of facts to instil fear. If the government announced a ‘flu epidemic—something that occurs annually—the man on the Clapham omnibus would think they had gone mad. After all, we live with the ‘flu, most of us have had it at some point in our lives and we know it is a very dangerous virus for older people, or people with some compromising underlying condition. If that sounds familiar, then you would be right. It is a description that exactly applies to COVID-19 which is less lethal than some strains of the ‘flu.
This is another example of how the government applies double standards. For example, a meeting of unmasked unsocially distanced world supremos is described as a summit while a birthday party is described as a super-spreader event. If those of us who are less than convinced the COVID-19 pandemic is an existential threat to humanity point out, for example, that infections were declining before lockdowns (ie lockdown are a waste of time) then we get dismissed as being a danger to humanity. Take the recent ‘up yours and two fingers’ meeting of the global elite of the G7 in Cornwall. Following the meeting there was a spike in COVID cases in Cornwall.
Somehow you would think that this was one of those ‘gotcha’ moments for the government, hoist by their own petard. But no. The government denies that the G7 summit was a super-spreader event and the local Director of Public Health, Felicity Owen—probably in fear of her job—was rolled out to say that there was evidence cases were rising prior to the G7 summit. If there was evidence of rising cases, then why was the summit allowed to proceed?
There is an existential crisis in our country, and it is related to democracy (non-existent), the rule of law (which can be implemented without parliamentary scrutiny) and freedom (which we waved goodbye to in March 2020). People continue to scuttle about terrified and oppressed, panicking about a virtually non-existent threat to them or the future of humanity. But they are panicking about the wrong thing. The only legitimate panic is one about the collapse of civil society, social intercourse, education and the ability to earn a living.
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