//It's like the flu..//
Be careful when you say that, Shirley. I said it some time ago in exactly the same context. I mentioned that the remnants of the 1968 "Hong Kong 'Flu" are still with us and the remnants of Covid will be the same. I was castigated for "saying it's only like 'flu" (when in fact I said nothing of the sort). But I totally agree with you. This constant state of panic and threat needs to stop. As well as that, the case for face coverings is by no means convincing. It is strange that in Wales, where they are mandatory, they have a higher infection rate than in England, where they have not been mandated since July. But that's neither here nor there. The virus is no longer a great threat to the vast majority of people. Wearing masks has become the defining image of a society gripped by fear and they have become a divisive issue. Equally ludicrous are the so-called "Covid passports". No government can prevent its people from catching a respiratory virus. They have been around for as long as humans have and we simply have to live with them. Walking around masked up and waving a certificate to enter a pub or restaurant is not living with the virus, it's trying to supress it, and that can't be done.