W hat’s different today from a year ago? I’m not with my friends having a drink or lighting the BBQ or getting ready to go out for a dinner party. Ok, I often stay at home on Saturdays.
So, what is different here in Madeira apart from restrictive government measures and police patrolling the streets ready to arrest or fine anyone who isn’t at home?
Firstly, every newspaper we read on the internet does their best to instil fear and anxiety in the general population. Politicians with their soundbites do the same.
Secondly, more people are dying more than usual. However, according to the local newspaper reports, it’s not due to Covid, but due to other pathologies. Could this be connected to Covid restrictions?
Thirdly, there is no debate or discussion if measures taken by our government make any sense scientifically. Everyone is now a “scientist” or an “expert”, who is only satisfied to quote what some other “scientist” said that backs up their own stubborn belief. To be a scientist, one has to question everything and put it to evidence based scrutiny constantly and be ready to admit one was wrong for the pursuit of truth. I did just that when I first believed that Covid-19 was going to kill a lot of people based on early numbers published by the WHO.
I walk into a reasonably crowded restaurant wearing a mask (so as not to be asked to leave) and sit down. I take off my mask that doesn’t stop your breath passing out the sides of the mask and who’s filtration capacity of the virus is equivalent to throwing sand through a tennis racquet.
I’m now seated in an atmosphere where the air I breath will have passed through the lungs and noses of at least a dozen people. Yet, people are being harassed in the street (open air), for not wearing a mask. A scientist who worked for the US Military has stated that tests for the risk of contagion from foreign viruses sprayed into the open air posed no significant risk on soldiers in case of potential biological warfare. And that’s without the mask from which you breath from the sides that absorb the same air as those without.
We accept being at home in the evening. For those living with families and companions, that’s not bad (if you don’t hate your spouse). For those living alone, it can be very testing. Suicide rates in the UK and the USA have been threefold during lockdowns. At least here it’s not so severe, but I bet the psychiatrists and psychologists have a lot to say on this matter.
Here’s the uncomfortable bit. Who and how many are dying of Covid-19? We have 50 registered deaths with Covid in Madeira so far (population240,000). To be registered, it doesn’t need to be the primary cause of death that doctors suspect or confirm. If the deceased tests positive for a PCR test (which is not accurate) or is suspected to do so, then the death certificate states "death by Covid". Most deaths seem to be of patients over 80 when the average life expectancy is also just over 80. By the way, there are no post-mortems in most countries at the moment for Covid. So who knows?
Economical and Social factors make up a part of National Health. We need a healthy economy to pay taxes to pay for healthcare. Men and women with jobs are more likely to be psychologically healthy than those who have lost jobs or businesses. Depression lowers immunity levels. How do unemployed people look after their children? Talking of children. What are we doing keeping them from interacting with their friends and learning? Have we gone mad?
In the future, we will look back and wonder for all the measures we accepted, was it worth it for what real effects of a nasty virus that has replaced 90% or so of seasonal flu?
A final note on the Regional Government. Compared to Governments like the UK, Germany and France, we have had fewer restrictions. For that I am glad on the one hand but am still appalled that contradictory and hypocritical rules are enforced on the population. Look at Sweden (our regional President knows about them) and compare it to Madeira and Portugal.
Jorma Talas
Todos os elementos enviados pelo autor. Imagem CM.
