Omicron

I have been off social media, or had been, from Saturday morning to Sunday lunchtime, and the post yesterday took many hours to write and the photos edited.

So, here we are, back in the new normal.

Last Thursday I wrote about the new variant found in South Africa, and withing 48 hours Johnson had held a press conference informing the nation that the mask mandate was back from Tuesday, as would various restrictions on inbound travellers.

In the meantime, nothing.

Flights arrived from South Africa from which passengers disembarked and were allowed into the country with no added testing, they are now in places unknown the country.

It is already here.

At the same time, enhanced testing was taking place in Holland.

As usual, the UK is behind the curve, talking tough and acting shit.

So it goes, so it goes.

Mankind had a narrow window in which to vaccinate the entire population, instead vaccine protectionism meant that those in th first world got done first, first dose, second dose and now a booster, while many in the third world are yet to receive one.

We're not safe until we're all safe.

But we protected patients and Big Pharma, and now ever more dangerous muntations can evolve.

This is Omicron, the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet, as it is the 15th variation identified, but those between this and Delta (Kent) were not deemed dangerous.

Omicron is.

Very.

But the UK is adopting the wait and see approach, which in a pandemic is deadly, because JOhnson and his Government do not care, really. They would rather protect the economy.

And yet at the same time defend Brexit even the damage it does to the economy.

So, in both cases the Government is dancing the tune layed by the ERG/CRG which is basically the same group of backbenchers, over-riding the public health.

Over the weekend in Blackpool, no one was wearing masks, except Julie and I, and then we forgot when we rode the tram. In bars and restaurants, no one was wearing masks, just carrying on as though everything was normal. Not caring. It was slightly better on the way back from London on Sunday, most on the train out of Charing Cross were masking up. But its all too late.

And I can't get angry about it, I mean, what's the point? Few seem to care now, not even with 50,000 new infections on Friday, not with over 100 deaths per day for months now.

Truth no longer matters. Facts no longer matters. It's all culture war, and following the tribe you believe. Its the case here and in the US.