@Quartz2208
This thread demonstrates exactly why the board has become quiet. It’s not about minimising at one end or wanting a potential lockdown on the other it is because apart from the data thread (which is excellent and has some lovely graphs by boys3) there is very little else to say.
People have chosen the line they wish to take whether it is a sensible still mask wearing in some situations whilst going about as normal life as possible or any other variation there of.
You could take any one of the comments from anybody on it (including myself) and match the same comments to numerous threads. Anyone on the board since Jan 2020 could tell you posters views (as you could on Brexit) although some (climb dad and wettham spring to mind have gone or name changed)
In that sense it is a bit like Brexit - we as a country have voted I think on our Covid approach. Like Brexit it is popular with some and unpopular with others although it does manage to have a much more middle ground.
There is no one now to persuade or change the view of
Tbh i dont think its about changing the view of anyone.
Its more simple resignation to the fact that we can do fuck all more and there is only so many ways to say we fucked it early one.
You cannot even say look how good our vaccine rate is any more.
I think there is very little left to say more than anything else.
The same circular argument loses its interest eventually and because the moment of extreme fear has passed (because of vaccines) we are now more into a stage of general apathy/indifference compared to where we were.
Deaths aren't skyrocketing and hospitalisations whilst high, they aren't at a point where they are so full, no one knows how the hell they are going to fit in the next covid patient.
My local hospital had over 200 covid patients in Jan and was having daily deaths. Its not had a death for a while now (officially none in the last week).
The thing that perhaps surprises me is the lack of talk on mn about the number of unvaccinated pregnant women on ICU. I think i saw a stat earlier this week that 20% of covid icu patients were unvaccinated pregnant women. And 33% on ECMO were pregnant. Which is an appalling number.
Otherwise, its just not affecting people in the way it was. It might not be into 'just a cold' mentality, but its also no long 'fuck if i get this, am i going to die' for most people.
Strangely enough if you look at comments, the most vocal people left on the board now tend to be people who (either for a legit clinical reason or through being overly anxious) are still in the 'fuck am i going to die' camp.
Personally, I am not happy with the situation as it stands, but no amount of complaining about it is going to do much good, because frankly as long as schools are open no one cares enough anymore. If you closed the schools again, or even tightened the ridiculous keep siblings off school rule, then these boards would go nuts.
Its apathy and that's grown on this one. Not entrenchment.
People have had nothing but covid to talk about for over a year. They've had enough of the same subject with nothing new to add to the conversation. So don't want to talk about it.
With Brexit there was always loads of other things people had going on at the same time and in their lives.
You can stare at the numbers now and they aren't doing anything dramatic in most places now. Flatlining is a dull conversation piece...