The Road To Spring 19: Too Covid For Comfort

Following yesterday's bacterial intervention, another ha appeared. The local shops have been affected by Covd. This could lead to a serious outbreak though hopefully that moment has passed. The local butcher has been shut all week because of an infection. OI don't know who or, perhaps more importantly for everyone else, how. But still seeing people walking into shops, specifically the bakery next door, without masks is now all the more galling. I don't think that's what happened here since the butcher doesn't sell takeaway food the same as the bakery and they insist on people wearing masks. However the neighbouring Coop convenience store has also been infected. They are running a skeleton crew with reduced hours because staff had tested positive. The obvious conclusion is that it spread throughout the precinct. This is scary stuff given the potential for community transmission.

I had hoped, throughout all this, we'd be spared locally. Of course that's everyone's hope, but so far, at least to the best of my knowledge, we had been lucky. But this isn't like the first lockdown; play areas are open, with kids in them, people are socialising, somewhat (to be fair), much more than before. More takeaway options are available, and people are using them. It doesn't seem that much effort is required to seed and (hopefully not) spread the virus. Needless to say I won't be visiting the shops for a good long while, but luckily I don't have to. However I don't know how far this has spread, even among the other shops. None of them are going to want to shut of course, which is the other problem. If they did, the community would struggle.

People have got to start taking it seriously, it is never too late. Having just been jabbed I certainly don't want this virus. What rotten luck would that be? However I can't help thinking we, as a society, have reached the limit of what we are prepared to tolerate. People are, understandably, fed up with all this, but what's the alternative? They want schools open in two weeks. At the rate the infection has been falling the best we can expect is about 5000 daily infections. That's way higher than it was when schools opened at the start of the academic year, and we all know how that went. Unfortunately we also know what that creep Williamson will do. He's a nasty piece of work; instead of working to ensure schools are safe, he's waging a culture war against an non existent enemy.

To be honest I'd feel much less apprehensive if I hadn't had the jab, with the covid now in closer proximity than ever before. It just goes to show how easy this shit can spread. Now that I have a path to protection, I'd hate for that to be ruined (I don't know what happens to the vaccine's efficacy if you are sick int he period it's kicking in). Nowhere is safe from this virus, least of all the egos of fragile toxic masculinity.