LFHNflightstudent wrote:
I’m really wondering when we will be able to retire this thread. I find it quite staggering a year and a half on this is still going.
Well, the plague is still going on pretty much unchanged. Maybe some would rather bury their heads in the sand, but the 4th wave is now here and wrecking havoc yet again, primarily in the unvaccinated population but also partly with vaccinated people. So Covid is alive, kicking and does the old game of showing it’s power when people lie to themselves that it is over. Out of that perspective, I fully expect Covid to be around and pretty much rule society for the forseeable future. I do not expect anymore that we shall ever go back to what used to be normal before it.
Hence the thread has it’s place and function and, thanks to the fact that some medical professionals take the time to take part, is probably the single most informative source of information I’ve come across.
LFHNflightstudent wrote:
By keeping this thread alive, are we too adding to the ’’fear’’ of getting back to normal and exercising our right to fly, live and act like human beings rather than scared little rabbits in the headlight of regulation.
I am not sure what “fear” you mean. Obviously people are not afraid enough of this crisis and the virus which causes it. Otherwise they would have all gotten the vaccine by now, instead a way too big section of society is more afraid of conspiracy theories than of the actual illness. Quite a few now are paying the price for this as they get Covid and I expect a sizable chunk of those will die or be handicapped for life. It tells me that society has reached a stage of post-factual superstition and stupidity, which make any hope of ending the Covid crisis mute.
When I said a couple of weeks and months ago that the 4th wave would kick in, I got flack and shouts by those in denial. Well, now it is here. And it won’t be the last wave either. The people I talk to here are clear on the fact that latest in September shutdowns of industries if not renewed lockdowns will be a fact, thanks to the selfish idiots who snub vaccinating and who feel partying is more important than society’s health.
As for flying GA, I see no reason whatsoever not to fly. Not then, not now. Then it was a wrongly perceived solidarity in the mantra of stopping all “non-essential” activities, today we know better. It is not relevant if an activity is essential or not but if it carries danger of spreading the disease. Flying GA within your own family or alone certainly doesn’t and even if, then in very small numbers.
Seeing that most politicians have now given up on Covid and simply let the lunatics take over the mad house, any sort of restriction on flying within the normal operations of GA is completely uncalled for.
LFHNflightstudent wrote:
There’s enough Greta’s, green parties, ministry’s of no-fun etc already out there who want to curb our right to fly for us all to be finding excuses not to.
I suppose quite a few restrictions went very much in the direction of the extinction rebellion folks, such as grounding the airlines which is one of their main goals. It certainly is necessary to keep in mind that these considerations may well be part of decision processes about future restrictions and Covid may well be used as an excuse to implement them. Seeing that the 4th wave is spread extensively by travel and seeing the catastrophic spread in holiday regions, maybe a ban of airline travel is the only way to stop this even, which Greta and her followers would be jubilant about, even though it has nothing to do with their own goals.
If the 4th wave shows one thing, it is that mass gatherings are still something which is unacceptable in the face of the Covid crisis. Tourism and the soccer EM have done their share in initiating it. GA and individual travel with cars or private planes have if any than a negligible influence on this.
There are several ways forward, either it gets ignored totally and the plague is simply accepted as a fact of life and they let it rage on until it burns it self out (if it ever will), accepting a huge death toll and simply turning away people if hospitals get again overwhelmed. Or we will go back banning all those mass gatherings, which most probably will cause civil unrest. Or we finally impose laws and punishment for those who refuse to take their share and snub the vaccine. I kind of hope the latter will be where we are going.
This is an excellent article by one of the docs who has to treat those people.
“They cry. And they tell me they didn’t know. They thought it was a hoax. They thought it was political. They thought because they had a certain blood type or a certain skin color they wouldn’t get as sick. They thought it was ‘just the flu’. But they were wrong.
Yep. They only learn once it is too late.
And those who have spread the fake news, hoax theories and refuse vaccinations are guilty. In some cases punishable by death by Covid.
Yesterday I met two classical examples of non vaccinated people in Croatia – from two sides of spectrum of those who had the opportunity to take the jab but they haven’t.
1. Case one: guy in his late 50-ies, educated, understands more or less everything about vaccines, supports vaccination (in talks) but he didn’t have time, didn’t catch Covid when the others around him caught it, there are people in more need for the vaccine than him – in other words million excuses for being lazy and not acting alongside his statements.
2. Case two: guy in his late 60-ies, poorly educated, knows more or less all conspiracy theories about vaccination and doesn’t shake hands with vaccinated people (or any kind of close contact) to avoid getting “something”.
Emir wrote:
in other words million excuses for being lazy and not acting alongside his statements.
Did you tell him there are no excuses? Maybe send him the link I just posted.
Emir wrote:
2. Case two: guy in his late 60-ies, poorly educated, knows more or less all conspiracy theories about vaccination and doesn’t shake hands with vaccinated people (or any kind of close contact) to avoid getting “something”.
One doc I know who is totally frustrated and furious at vaccination reluctance but used to be a big proponent of free speech no matter what told me the other day: “We should have shut down social media and controlled the internet from day one of the pandemic”. I think re social media he is right. They are a cancer growth for society because of all the rubbish that gets spread and shared via them.
@Mooney_Driver I am not saying you are not right in much of what you are writing but I am beginning to fear for your mental health.
You really need to look for something to give you a little more optimism in your life.
Please don’t take this as a personal attack it is not meant as such.
Well, for my own safety I am a lot more relaxed now I have been vaccinated. I would have even done it if I was not on the endagered species (covid) list. And in general I’ve enjoyed a lot more family time than before the Covid crisis, as we tried to keep to ourselfs as much as we can. At least I can claim I saw my daughter grow up…
I am primarily frustrated that with a clear solution at hand to get this pandemic sorted, way too many think they don’t need to participate. The article of Dr Cobia sais most of it. It’s a clear sign of a society which is no longer driven by ratio but by fake news and supersticion. No, not most of them, but enough to twart the efforts of those who want to put Covid behind them.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
I think re social media he is right. They are a cancer growth for society because of all the rubbish that gets spread and shared via them.
Sorry, but this is factually wrong. The effect of social media (as of all forms of democratized media) – evaluated by many studies – is not, that more bullshit is spread. The effect is “just”, that it is much more transparent.
The very same what happens now on Facebook and other democratized media, happens for hundreds if not thousands of years at the local pub, the campfire, the taberna, etc. Incredible amount of BS was told because people had an agenda and/or were too uninformed.
Institutions like the Catholic Church actually created a tremendous amount of wealth and power from the fact, that they controlled the “news” in the local community and could freely decide, which truth, half-truth and lies they want to spread.
There’s actually only one significant difference between now and 500 years ago: As a medieval peasant you were stuck in exactly the one filter bubble (these obviously existed these days as well and were even stronger separated from each other) you were born into for your entire life. It was an extremely rare event that someone would leave ons filter bubble and move to another one. With FB and similar services you can more freely choose the filter bubble you want to be part of.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
It’s a clear sign of a society which is no longer driven by ratio but by fake news and supersticion.
When has a society ever been driven by ratio?
Malibuflyer wrote:
Institutions like the Catholic Church actually created a tremendous amount of wealth and power from the fact, that they controlled the “news” in the local community and could freely decide, which truth, half-truth and lies they want to spread.
Good example. Before social media I was totally unaware of Catholic Church influence in politics in Croatia. I had some vague idea that they are influential but, being non religious, I didn’t have the opportunity to attend their gatherings which were (and still are) actually full-blown right wing political rallies. With social media at least they are fully exposed although they don’t try to hide it all.
Just heard from a local authority here that the whole of south east England (population some tens of millions) has 300 people in hospital with CV19. That is way below negligible. And deaths are under 1ppm per day.
There are obviously clusters up north where things are worse…
I reckon “the plan” is to let the young go clubbing (which they can do from 19th July) and infect each other, which will happen fairly rapidly. The curve will then collapse quite rapidly.
The numbers of young people getting vacced are now very low
Figures yesterday show 96% of people in hospital here with Covid are non vacced.
Also in the 48hrs since President Macron made his speech about vaccine and test passes to enter bars and restaurants etc, which has caused some protests, more than 2 million people have signed up to be vaccinated.
which has caused some protests
Some of the protests are hilarious. Someone sent around a message saying that the “Covid-pass” is a re-birth of what the nazis were doing in the occupied territories. To illustrate the point, a picture of a WW2 era laissez-passer was used – except that specific document had been issued by the Free French Forces…
