Right from the start we’ve been in the back foot. As soon as we allowed Johnson and his government to call basic health protection ’Restrictions’ and the lifting of these as freedom - one part of society had captured the language of lockdown and Covid for themselves.
The prime minister’s pledge to scrap legally enforced isolation for people in England with Covid-19 flies in the face of basic infectious disease management, which tells us to avoid infecting other people when you are infectious. It is a basic public health protection, like others we have in daily life: speed limits on roads, the banning of smoking indoors, and laws against drink driving. These limit our freedoms to a certain extent, but we have accepted that “infringement” in order to have a safer and healthier society.
I am so angry that this battle has been lost. The freedom not to wear a mask or self isolate or adhere to sensible public health measures is a massive infringement on the freedoms of millions of fellow citizens where the consequences of even the milder omicron variant are severe and as we know still can lead to death. Those with à chronic illness won’t be welcoming the lifting of these public health measures!
For them this signal means society doesn’t “care about your life”. You are once again a second class citizen not worthy of others being asked to take some simple and basic measures to protect you.
You don’t fully know the extent of your freedom to do what you like and whilst you may not directly be responsible for a specific death of someone’s loved one… you can’t be sure you won’t. So why take the risk for the so-called freedom not to wear a mask. ?? What is this magical freedom worth? Seriously how inconvenient is this in the grand scale of issues. yes my glasses still steam up and I regulate my breathing a little - but so what! I know my small action might save a life or prevent someone suffering from Long Covid
I have really been struggling with the actions of many people I thought I knew. People who I thought cared about the vulnerable and sick and would devote their lives to improving their lot. They wanted to be the voice for the voiceless and champions against injustice. Yet when it comes to the minor inconvenience of wearing a mask or socially distancing they can’t be bothered. What does it say about their understanding of those vulnerable with hidden conditions and those clinically vulnerable? I have been only too aware thanks to the work Sarah has done on our support of the case for #ME that many people are almost invisible because of their condition. They are genuinely the voiceless because we don’t even see them. We still seem to allow levels of discrimination with disability that aren’t tolerated elsewhere in society.
I have tried to understand their position and point of view. It’s always my starting point when I find I disagree with someone. What am I Missing here? If you know your non mask wearing potentially is dangerous for others but still don’t wear a mask I’d love you to help me understand you point of view. I know mask wearing is NOT THE answer but my assumption is that if you are not willing to make this minor sacrifice what else are you not doing - LTF testing and isolating and socially distancing?
But on this issue I keep Coming back to the point that somebody , despite knowing the health consequences of not wearing a mask and sticking to the rules, is deliberately putting somebody vulnerable unnecessarily at risk or does so In the knowledge their selfish action prevents the vulnerable from participating in events, meetings or normal social settings.. Surely there can be no excuse for not understanding your actions have consequences. It is why freedom is always limited.
Sadly for me this has happened in two spheres of my life- sport and church.
In the sport sector there is a split. There are still too many people who get blinded by their own fitness to see the possibility that getting the gyms open wasn’t the only thing in the world. Fortunately with a greater emphasis on tackling inequalities more people have at least talked about the consequences of not taking proper public health measures seriously enough but the images and messaging that getting fit is more important than public health protections doesn’t sit right for me.
The biggest disappointment for me has been church. I will write more about this over time as there are a number of strands within this context that need challenging. But in an attempt to ensure there is some reconciliation at some stage much of this needs to be done face to face with a sense of grace. It will mean some very tough conversations with people I thought I knew. People I thought deeply cared for others in a practical way. But it appears were only too willing to ignore the plight of the vulnerable for their freedom not to wear a mask! How did these voices not get heard?
I can’t wait to hear their version of their world view. But at the moment I am still raw and angry about their actions, so it will take some time before I am ready and may never be back to the place we were at before!