The Covid pandemic is over, but the virus is still widely present in the population. It is now endemic and the SARS-CoV2 virus in all its variations will be around for years, if not decades to come. The entire population will be exposed to it, most of us multiple times, in our lifetimes in the same way as we are exposed to all manner of endemic airborne viruses. Trying to avoid it or prevent its spread is futile; testing yourself for it when you are not unwell is entirely pointless. In fact, testing yourself when you have symptoms is about as sensible as testing yourself for ‘flu. Thankfully the government has finally recognised this and the removal of all restrictions and the end of widespread free testing is the only sensible way to proceed. The NHS will have to get used to this and deal with it in the same way as they deal with other patients with respiratory illness. After all, that’s what it’s there for.
//for the 114 who died yesterday, it's certainly all over. Can't expect Deskdiary and his son to show too much empathy for them, I suppose.//
Understanding the above obvious facts and having empathy for the relatives of the victims are not mutually exclusive. However, very few people are now dying directly and solely as a result of Covid. Many people suffering from other underlying illnesses, especially older people, die from viral or bacterial respiratory infections such as ‘flu and pneumonia. Quoting the number of people who have died “from Covid” is no longer helpful and has never been particularly accurate. About 1,500-odd other people would have died yesterday. Each of the three most common causes of death would have claimed three times as many victims as the figure who died yesterday with Covid on their death certificates. Far better to empathise with some of them because there is no doubt that many of them would have died as a result of being undiagnosed and/or untreated whilst the National Health Service was rebranded as the National Covid Service.