Author: Blazingcatfur

Given the ability of Covid-19 to make fools out of everyone, it is not entirely fair to single out an opinion piece penned by Christina Pagel and Martin McKee, members of the self-appointed ‘Independent Sage’ committee on 7 October. But it sums up an attitude which was common just seven weeks ago. ‘England, not for the first time, is the odd one out in Europe,’ they wrote. England had recklessly abandoned Covid restrictions in July, relying on vaccines alone to keep the country open. In contrast, our European neighbours were sensibly employing a ‘relatively light set of extra measures’, such as vaccine passports, to keep infections much lower than England’s. ‘They are demonstrating that there is a way to be open while keeping cases low… It works. And we should be doing it.’

That does not look like such a clever analysis now. Mainland Europe is once again the epicentre of the pandemic.

If the worsening situation in Europe is foreshadowing what’s to come, get ready, Canada

Dr. Malgorzata Gasperowicz has a routine when she gets into a taxi: she makes sure the driver is wearing a mask, rolls down the windows, then often talks to the driver about the risks of airborne transmission of COVID-19 and then gives him a KN95 mask, because most drivers don’t know about the airborne risks of the disease, she says. It’s one way she helps spread the word that the dangers inherent in this pandemic aren’t over, especially as the temperatures fall and case counts climb.