The Coronavirus Outbreak 2020 will be written about and taught in history classes for years to come.  Quite simply the Covid-19 virus has changed the world and society is unlikely to ever be the same again.  This has happened at lightning speed.

On Monday 23rd March United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister Boris Johnson advised of new rules that people must stay at home.  Schools are closed (except for children of key workers) and visits outside the home are now restricted for essential shopping trips, to pick up medical supplies or to exercise (in isolation) once a day; this will be reviewed in three weeks.  This followed the announcement that all pubs, restaurants and public places of gathering must shut last week.  In France permission letters are required with specific times and reasons required to leave the home and people stopped without this are issued a €135 on the spot fine and if found a second time without permission are issued a €3000 fine and six months imprisonment.  Schools in France shut approximately one week prior to those in the UK so it is possible that a similar permission letter/permit will follow in the near future.  In Poland patients are receiving text messages from the government which they have to respond to with a selfie within 20 minutes to prove they are self isolating.  In India more than one billion people are in lockdown and across the world one in four are under coronavirus restrictions.  The curtailment of civil liberties and reaction to prevent the spread of the virus is startling; particularly when the virus was initially billed as just ‘flu’ and came from someone eating a bat in Wuhan, China.

So far the coronavirus has killed close to 27,000 people worldwide and there are nearly 600,000 infected.  647,000 people a year die from flu and there is suggestion that the Coronavirus will kill a comparable amount.  Much is made that there is a high death rate (around 2-3%) but this could be high because of a selection bias with only people at a medical centre or with an underlying medical condition currently being tested.  Dr. Wolfgang Wodark from Germany claims that there are many new coronaviruses each year and we should be looking at the outbreak more rationally and asking more questions such as:  “How have you found out that the virus is dangerous?  Didn’t we have the same thing last year?  Is it even something new?” An additional eleven medical experts have also expressed their opinion on the outbreak which contradicts much of the information from the mainstream media outlets (link to article below).

As I mentioned in my previous posts research is ongoing to produce a vaccine and I suspect it will be mandatory for all people, particularly if they wish to travel; I even saw an article that people may be classed as a terrorist and a risk to public health and safety if they refuse to have it.  Ana Maria Henao-Restrepo, Team Leader for the Initiative For Vaccine Research for the World Health Organisation has said that it would be historic to produce and adequately test a new vaccine within 18 months so it will be interesting to see if implementation is pushed through more quickly; however, it should not be understated that there is considerable danger of side effects of taking any pharmaceutical products as the thalidomide tragedy (a mild sleeping pill even for pregnant women which caused thousands of babies worldwide to be born with malformed limbs) previously demonstrated.

The phrase ‘social distancing’ is commonplace and the use of face masks and keeping a two metre distance between each other is likely to continue.  Our work and social environments are also likely to forever change in reaction to this outbreak with more people working from home and less people gathering in large areas (pubs, restaurants, concerts and sporting events) due to the uncertainty of a stranger passing on infection.  It may even be required to book permission in advance to travel.  We are now washing our hands with antibacterial soap and using alcohol gel constantly; the future result of this will be a lower immune system as our bodies natural defence system will not be exposed to bacteria; thus, when a more potent virus does come around we will be more susceptible to being affected by it.

As well as the vast imposition of restrictions and quarantining there have been significant financial plans to keep economies from tumbling further.  The United States has revealed a $2 trillion bail out and the UK will cover 80% of wages for 3 months; it is currently unknown what will happen if the crisis lasts beyond this period.  Financial commentators have spoken of the huge risks and suggest this could lead to a worldwide recession and depression.  Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has questioned whether it is correct to sacrifice the world economy and the freedom of humanity to a disease that 98% of humanity survive (most with very mild symptoms) but it already seems too late.  The fear and panic of overwhelming the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) has contributed to temporary changes to regulations including the Mental Health Act (reducing the number of doctors agreement from two to one for patients to be detained) and although current measures may relax it is uncertain whether regulations will ever return to their pre-Corona status.

I offer a quote from Benjamin Franklin:

“Those who would give up essential Liberty,
to purchase a little temporary safety,
Deserve neither Liberty or Safety”.

Currently people’s state of panic and fear has resulted in strict safety measures being taken to contain the situation although when people look back in a few months or years they may be shocked by the new world they live in.  In spite of Public Health England’s re-classification of Covid-19 as not a high consequence infectious disease (HCID) in the UK (as of March 19th) I expect more authoritarian measures to be taken to contain the virus and restrict people’s ability to travel freely, exercise and assemble.

We now live in a post coronavirus world; I hope history will not judge these last weeks as the period when individuals’ freedom (as we know it) changed forever; unfortunately, I fear we may have already reached a point of no return.

Article mentioned:
https://www.globalresearch.ca/12-experts-questioning-coronavirus-panic/5707532/amp