COVID 19

 

Covid 19 in the UK: So I Can Read This in a Years Time and See What We Got Through.

So I went back and forth on posting this. In fact, I went back and forth on writing this all out full stop. I’m not usually one to write about something so political and controversial. The most controversial I usually get here are my opinions on diet industry, sizing in shops and how shitty hunting is.
It’s also to almost prove to myself and other that it’s okay to talk about this. It’s okay to be the ‘angry blogger’ or the ‘ranty blogger’. It’s okay to not fit the PG mold. It’s okay to share your opinions and to talk about things which maybe you sometimes shouldn’t. This may be a topic too big to avoid.

Also I will link proof or other articles within this, just so I don’t look like a conspiracy theorist nut. I’m looked down on enough by people thinking I don’t know what I’m talking about so have the evidence I’m basing my rant on, other than just my opinions and personal experience.

So… Here goes:

Thousands of people world wide are dead. This didn’t have to happen if in DECEMBER of 2019 when China reported it as an issue to WHO (World Health Organisation), people had thought of it as an issue for everyone and not ‘China’s problem’, and had taken it seriously instead of shrugging it off. Instead of pussyfooting around, it immediate action had been taken instead of acting when it became a pandemic, we’d not be in this position.

You’d not have to experience the return of the angry blogger right now.
But here I fucking am.

I’m in the UK. I’m in part of the UK where we’re in the third tier despite many other places having higher rates and being in lower tiers- Nottingham namely. There’s Andy Burnham fighting for Manchester to get a fair lockdown and in all honesty, go him. Can he replace Boris please because the man kind of talks sense.
But, us in the North of England, particularly Liverpool and areas in the North East? We’ve got the worst restrictions… Despite our numbers really not being as bad as in other places?

These are restrictions that make no sense. I can go and work with my friends and my boyfriend but I’m not allowed to see them outside of work, unless I’m in a park… Or a fucking Weatherspoons. But I can’t go to markets with a woman who is like a sister because we’re not in the same household. There is no way of me visiting my best friend like I’d been planning because while she can travel despite being in Nottingham with an incredibly high rate, I can’t travel to her because it’s not necessary travel. I can’t see my boyfriend in his flat or spend the night in his flat despite the fact that we work together and are in contact with all the same people… I’m fine to work with people and to travel to areas with a higher infection rate than my own for work, but I can’t outside of work.

There are people who cannot see sick relatives, people who cannot see older relatives, there are people struggling with childcare because god forbid they have two grandparents and not just the one. Thousands of people have lost their jobs, or have to leave their jobs to look after others without pay through no fault of their own.

I have no issues following the rules. I WILL stick to them because it’ll keep the people I love safe, and keep other people I’m in contact with safe. I’ll stick to them because it’s the right thing to do. I know that if I thought I’d passed this onto anyone I’d be guilty and be a wreck. So I’ll stick to the rules in place and encourage others to too. I’ll help save and ease the NHS, I’ll enforce people to follow the rules in the college where I work.

But I’m angry. And so many others are angry too.

We’re angry because rules make no sense. We can’t see family or friends or loved ones but we can work surrounded by anti-maskers and people who think Covid 19 is caused by 5G and pigeons are government spies.
I can work around students who refuse to wear a mask over their nose, refuse to keep their distance and refuse to follow any forms of guidelines but who hurl abuse at me when I enforce rules I wish we didn’t have to have.
I’m angry because there are students who are so clueless to the guidelines they’ve come to me upset because they feel like they can’t do right and I’ve had to sit and explain it all to them… Some of them are my age and being told 7 different things a day by hundreds of different people.
Many are arguing that they don’t have to wear masks in class where there’s little distancing, so why should they anywhere else? Why if you’re in a class bubble does that bubble not stand outside of college or even inside the college in libraries or in corridors or the canteen? All fair points, points I don’t have answers to but I’m still having to enforce these rules.

We’re angry because there’s scaremongering. Coronavirus has been around for decades… Just Covid 19 is new. Colds and flu can come up as positive when testing. And it’s cold and flu season. So of course numbers will rise.
Scientists have said it; not every positive test will mean Covid 19 as there is no rest for this strain alone, but we’re still scared whenever a person coughs. I coughed and my first thought was if I’d have to report my single cough to work. Just because you know that there is scaremongering doesn’t mean that it doesn’t work.
The media won’t share it though. Instead we’re just being told numbers are up in a time of year where illnesses always rise. But nobody is talking about that. Instead of trying to calm a country down, they’re riling them up. The more stressed you are, the more likely you are to get sick. There’s no support, no explanations given, no proof or evidence… Media and government leaving people in the dark and being forced to trust them.

But it’s not just the North that are angry. Country wide, people are angry. People are angry because we’re confused and lost and yes, there is no guide to handling a pandemic but our government have made an example of what NOT to do. Their handbook of U- Turns and false information and acting just to look like you’re acting but actually going fuck all… Herd immunity denied but when you look, is actually what they’re doing cloak and dagger. Especially when they were debating and talking about going for herd immunity in March time until they faced public outcry and backlash.
It feels like they’re wanting to look like they’re trying to solve a problem but they’re not actually arsed about solving it. The past few months feel like they’ve been trying to go for a secret tactic to achieve herd immunity, then stumbling when it goes wrong and people demand you do something to fix it. So they put nonsensical restrictions in place and are surprised when people are angry and second guess them… Especially the tier system which is already crumbling due to differences between Liverpool City Region and Lancashire.

How can we be sure these numbers are right? It’s been proven on multiple occasions they’ve handed out used tests– possibly giving false results and spreading the virus more. I know it’s human error but in these times, there’s no room for human error. How can we trust their numbers and science and statistics when there are errors like this made.

Especially when they have ignored science and had to fix messes and are still ignoring science and are going to have to fix messes again in the next few months (my prediction).

They’re also ignoring the findings of WHO. The World Health Organisation is calling to rid lockdowns (but to wear masks in all public areas because they found that masks do work and washing your hands with soap and not sanitiser does work) because they’ve found numbers go up when in lockdown. This advice and their findings are falling on deaf ears despite them being professionals. Instead, we’re put into ranks and expected to follow the nonsense our bumbling Prime Minister spouts, pretending he has any grip on what is going on when in fact he doesn’t know his own guidelines and cannot explain why these are in place.

On top of that, we have countless members of parliament forgetting and breaking rules with not even a slap on the wrist whereas the public are slapped with fines for not following rules that make little to no sense and that nobody actually knows and understands. Rules that make no sense are enforced but those enforcing them cannot keep to them. And you wonder why some people might fight back or ignore the rules?

Advice to the government: set and lead by example.

One last point too and I hate saying this but… all of this happening and we get the announcement of a no-deal Brexit? Just as the country is up in arms about the tier system, the ignorance of our government and filled with worry? They sneak in that there will be a no deal Brexit knowing that people aren’t going to be paying attention to it because we’re in the middle of a badly handled pandemic and have other things on our minds.

Because while this year is a write off, I’ve become stronger than I thought I ever could be. I was already feisty but I now know my own mind, I know myself, I know what I will and won’t stand for. I’ve got more fire and fight in me than I have in years. I’m not afraid to stand up for myself and for other people. I’ll happily let someone know exactly where they’re going wrong just like I’ll say I’ve been wrong and hold my hands up.
It’s true that we grow through what we go through and in times of crisis and uncertainty we find who we really are. So while yes, this year is awful and I can’t wait to take a shot and bring in the new year, the silver lining is that going through utter chaos has made me the woman I am now. It’s made me determined to get to where I want to be. It’s given me time to reflect and heal and become the mouthy bitch I always was, but needed to find her again. Sometimes, the worst situations bring out who we truly are and show us our true strength.

Please… Stay safe and stay happy and stay sensible ❤️