FELDSTED -- We have so many cooks in the COVID kitchen that whenever one of them moves, he knocks over three nearby people

 

The longer the coronavirus saga lingers, the more perplexing it is that efforts to contain the virus have been brought to us by squadrons of allegedly educated and intelligent people.

We have official senior health care officers for ten provinces, three territories, various cities, and the federal government. In addition, we have politicians from all of those jurisdictions. Add to that full-time commentators from major media outlets who parade an endless stream of alleged experts to add commentary on what is and is not working.

We have so many cooks in the COVID kitchen that whenever one of them moves, he knocks over three nearby people. We have watched this insanity for fifteen months.

Collectively, they failed to limit virus spread. We have over 26,000 bodies as proof.

The idiots who came up with social distancing based their theory on preliminary studies of how far coronavirus droplets might spread if someone coughed or sneezed. The six-foot or two-meter distance chosen is arbitrary, not scientific.

There are many mitigating factors – indoors or out, ventilation, wind, humidity, and degree of energy. (playing volleyball will require more energy and hard breathing than someone seated and playing cards).

Initially, we were told to wear face masks where physical distancing was not possible. That quickly became a separate edict because it signalled that wearers followed virus regulations, not because they served any useful purpose.

No studies show that anything less than a properly fitted N-95 (medical grade) mask will prevent coronavirus transmission. The virus droplets are so tiny that they penetrate lower-quality masks.

The highlight of a ridiculous approach to coronavirus containment was to start issuing fines for not complying with silly regulations. The thinking seems to be that fines will discourage non-compliance. The fools who came up with that one have not gone for a 50-mile road trip recently.

Medical people and politicians insist that the coronavirus epidemic is unprecedented. Records show: 1832 - Cholera; 1834 – Cholera; 1849 – Cholera; 1851 – Cholera; 1854 – Cholera; 1890 – Influenza; 1918 – Influenza; 1957 – Influenza; 1968 – Influenza; 1982 AIDS; 2003 - SARS; 2009 – H1N1 (Swine Flu); 2020 – Coronavirus. We are now naming influenzas which does not change anything.

What is unprecedented is that steps taken to combat influenza epidemics in 1957, 1968, 2003 and 2009 successfully were ignored in favour of an untested system of locking down all but essential services and quarantining healthy people. Sadly, it failed to work.

We are told that (1) all available vaccines are safe, and (2) getting two doses of vaccine will protect us from severe effects of COVID. Now that vaccine supplies are readily available, over 75% of people age 12+ have gotten the first dose, and 22% are fully immunized.

As the number of fully immunized people increases, they expect to be relieved of most virus restrictions. Fifteen months of isolation and restrictions followed by appointments to get vaccine doses must have a reward.

I favour fire pits in public parks where immunized people can burn their face masks and hug their friends. It is irrelevant whether my friend is immunized or not – he or she cannot infect me with serious consequences. Our governments say so.
As the number of immunized people increases, the relevance of social distancing and face masks decreases. We can’t have it both ways.

Medical people are now whining about a coronavirus delta variant that is allegedly more easily transmitted from person to person and makes people sicker, quicker. It is discouraging that this cable of clowns appears incapable of learning. Since they failed to contain the original coronavirus, what makes them think they can deal with the variant?

They are not going to revert to the failed COVID strategy. They had their 15 minutes of tyranny, and it is over forever. It is time for health care experts and politicians to get their act together. The 15-month COVID gong-show is proof that they are hopelessly incompetent.

It should come as no surprise that the COVID containment strategy was hatched by the Privy Council Office arm of the Prime Minister’s Office – the same PCO twisting the arm of the Attorney General to give the crooks at SNC-Lavalin a break.

We can be confident that the PMO has used federal borrowing power as a lever to keep the provinces on side. But, like any other organization with a dismal leadership lacking in ethics and principles, our federal government is rotten from the head down.

Remember that when you vote. 

 

John Feldsted ... is a political commentator, consultant, and strategist. He makes his home in Winnipeg, Manitoba.