The Corona Diaries – Day 414

I bet you are all feeling better today and are wondering why everything is so much better today. It’s because of me! Yes, that’s right!

Yesterday we had a delightful meal in the garden with friends and spent the time putting everything in the world right. The effects should be apparent almost straight away. It is very much needed.

Today I’ve been writing a bit of poetry and listening to Pink Floyd – Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. Great stuff.

I see the government is rolling out its campaign to create a one-party state. The latest thing is voter ID. This is no problem for me but it will hit the very people who are most likely to vote Labour. Every little disincentive helps. We saw the same thing in the USA. They made it difficult for ethnic minorities to register and also reduced the number of polling stations so that they had further to go. Johnson models himself on Trump.

So we have the BBC loaded with Tories, the tabloids pumping out Tory propaganda and lies and they are after sorting the electoral boundaries to make it harder for Labour to win. What’s the definition of tyranny?

It was bright and sunny and my calf felt a lot better so I set off up my hill!! It felt good not to have to wear a jacket and gloves! It is fascinating seeing the succession of flowers. We are moving out of spring into summer. The daffodils, violets and snowdrops have gone. The bluebells, fox gloves, primroses and red campion are all out. There were lots of flies around and the swallows were having a feast. A lone buzzard circled overhead. It felt good. Summer lies ahead of us. We are heading off to Devon and Cornwall to see friends! Looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, out in Coronaland the virus is on the retreat. The vaccines have got the death-rate down to near zero and the cases continue to tumble.

I think the vaccine has saved Johnson’s bacon. His inept performance put us right near the top of the table for cases and deaths. Fortunately for him the vaccine came in at the right time. It prevented a third wave. That third wave swept through the continent and caused much misery and death. It made their stats much worse which had the effect of making ours look much better than they were.

I thought it was interesting reading Neil Lock’s analysis of the pandemic in Europe. He agrees with me that the single most effective thing is to close the borders and quarantine all entries. This is what countries like New Zealand, Vietnam and Australia did. It is why they have had such low numbers.

In the USA, UK and Brazil the inept leaders were in denial and kept everything open. Foolhardy stupidity. They were warned.

Another of his findings was that there was a need to ban gatherings. Another mistake that Johnson, Trump and Bolsonaro made. It was also the thing that Modi encouraged that has led to the current Indian disaster. If he had not encouraged the Hindu festivities India would not be in its present mess.

I hope these idiots of leaders are going to be held accountable. Right now it looks as if they are getting away with murder.

I doubt that we’ll ever know the full extent of the deaths. So many places are covering it up! Bodies of covid victims are washing up on the banks of the ganges. Horrific. Modi is as big a fool as Trump and Bolsonaro.

Here vin the UK on the 17th we are pretty much coming out of lockdown. We will be able to meet up indoors, hug, go to restaurants, cinemas and gigs and get back to normal. I hope the antivaxxers are taking precautions. They are the ones at risk. The contact will cause much greater risk of infection. They are the ones who will be filling the hospitals.

I’m coming up three weeks after my second jab which means a 96% lowered risk of infection and almost 100% lowered risk of serious illness and death. The latest evidence is that the present variants are still responding to the vaccine. Johnson may have hit lucky and got another get out of jail free card.

So for now the future looks good!! I’m off to read and then watch some football!!

Stay safe!!