Quote: The Penny Move "Flu doesn’t overwhelm healthcare systems with cases that require hospitalisation. You had hospitals in other parts of Europe having to make decisions about who to try and save because there weren’t enough respirators to go round to treat so many people. We locked down and stopped that from happening.'"
I totally supported that at the time, as it was an unknown virus and we didn't fully understand it or the best treatment for it. Hospitalisations and deaths are not at the same level now because they know how to deal with it. It will still kill thousands but not at the same rate it did previously. The statistics around the age of those dying and prevalence of pre-existing conditions also simply cannot be ignored.
The current restrictions are going to result in millions of people losing their jobs and millions of people losing their homes. That alone will create a far bigger problem than say 100,000 dying from Covid 19 would. Financially we are digging a hole that our children and grandchildren will likely still be paying for in 40 years. There is also the cultural impact this will have. It's inevitable that some professional RL clubs will go, the sport will be lost to towns all over the North West. Semi-pro football is also going to be bankrupted and out of existence. Amateur rugby teams, bars, restaurants, music venues. A lot of the places and activities we attend to enjoy life and distract ourselves from the depressing realities of life will be gone. The relationships and friendships built up in those places will be lost as well and the cultural loss is probably as significant as the economic one.
There's a balance to all this. What they should be saying is use a common sense approach. Everything can exist as it used to, but wear a mask in public places other than when eating/drinking. Temperature checks on doors of shopping centres and pubs/restaurants and sporting events etc. Anyone with symptoms HAS to isolate. Anyone found violating that is fined, any employer found with obviously positive cases on premises also fined. Visitations to care homes limited and non-physical etc. Schools moving to more digital solutions than in school education etc. Kids who don't have a laptop or internet or carer at home can go in, you'd minimise the number of kids in school, but can alternate it so all get to be around their friends part of the time. Protection of those with pre-existing conditions with a semi-permanent furlough scheme that helps them long term if they are unable to safely return to work, which we could then afford if the economy wasn't being frozen. There's so much we could be doing.
Instead we're willingly and deliberately self-creating one of the worst economic depressions there has ever been and recklessly ruining the lives of MILLIONS of people. All to save 100,000 people from dying, when given the demographics most of whom would die in a similar time frame anyway.
I've no doubt that in 10, 20, 50 years people will look back on this and view it in hindsight as a huge error. The Covid Calamity or The Willful Cancellation of Society.