Johns Hopkins Medical Centre - World Coronavirus infection Map by Country.

[Marco]

The real problem as i see it, and why the fear factor is still working is due to the severe symptoms some of the unlucky few are left with after contracting Covid-19, these symptoms are very real, and in many cases fatal, but from the data available, and considering how many of us have actualy had this,[i suspect its probably getting on to at least half the uk population] the mortality rate, and those who are unlucky to have suffered the worst is still exceptionaly low,however; this doesent mean that we can dismiss the very real threat of covid-19, because you never know who may be amongst the unlucky ones who either end up with severe life long health issues, or worst, so for now, i think we still need to respect that fact

Absolutely, there's no doubt about that, *but* we can't allow it to govern all the most important decisions involving the running of the country, ultimately to the detriment of things that will have a much longer and more devastating impact on everyone.

And in order to prevent that, we need to stop the peddling of all this 'fake news', designed to create fear and panic, and get the FACTS out into the public domain (as shown on that video), so that people are better informed about what's *really* happening, and therefore better able to make their OWN decisions, in terms of what's best for themselves and their families, based on reality, not propaganda or blatant falsehoods.

The problem is that the 'powers that be' don't want people to be better informed, as that doesn't suit their agenda!

Marco.

[Marco]

Correct.

What annoys me more than anything is the availability in recent years of news channels who drum this bullshit into people's brains 24/7.

My mother-in-law is a massive victim. At 78 she's glued to it for extended periods and hasn't got the intelligence to see through it.

Me too, and you have to ask yourself what the driving force is behind that... The answer of course is for the 'powers that be' to try and control how people think, by constantly only feeding them what they want them to know.

Sadly your mother-in-law is typical not only of her generation, who were brought up in an era when you simply believed what you were told on the TV and radio, as there wasn't the opportunity available now to query it, but also of today's masses who either don't have the intelligence to question or challenge the 'accepted norm', or just sit back and accept being 'led' (and ultimately controlled), simply for a quite life - and that apathy could result in their future downfall, along with the rest of us, if we don't ALL wake up NOW and fight against the tyranny that may await us...!

Marco.

[anthonyTD]

And i agree that if we were all rational thinking people, informing us of the facts would be in everyone's best interest, however; as we continualy see in everyday life, you can always rely on the genral public to do the wrong thing, hence the government would rather treat everyone the same, and impliment a blanket ruiling that everyone has to adere to, this may not be the ideal decision to make, but from a government point of view it is!
I also understand that its a great opertunety to posibly impliment changes using the current situation, that once all this is over will become long term, so again i agree, we have to stay alert, and awake to these posibilities.

Absolutely, there's no doubt about that, *but* we can't allow it to drive all the most important decisions involving the running of the country, ultimately to the detriment of things that will have a much longer and more devastating impact on everyone.

And in order to prevent that, we need to stop the peddling of all this 'fake news', designed to create fear and panic, and get the FACTS out into the public domain (as shown on that video), so that people are better informed about what's *really* happening, and therefore are able to make their OWN decisions in terms of what's best for themselves and their families, based on reality, not propaganda or blatant falsehoods.

The problem is that the 'powers that be' don't want people to be better informed, as that doesn't suit their agenda!

Marco.

[Marco]

And i agree that if we were all rational thinking people, informing us of the facts would be in everyone's best interest, however; as we continualy see in everyday life, you can always rely on the genral public to do the wrong thing, hence the government would rather treat everyone the same, and impliment a blanket ruiling that everyone has to adere to, this may not be the ideal decision to make, but from a government point of view it is!

Sure, I agree and can see where you're coming from, but that doesn't make it right, simply because the TRUTH should never be stifled or censored, as doing so never creates the best long-term outcome for those who need to know it.

Free-thinking should always be nurtured and promoted, on all levels [we should never simply settle for blindly obeying any form of 'Big Brother'], as well as being well-informed on all important matters, as there's never any harm in knowing too much, but potentially plenty in knowing too little!!

Marco.

[anthonyTD]

Sure, I agree and can see where you're coming from, but that doesn't make it right, simply because the TRUTH should never be stifled or censored, as doing so never creates the best long-term outcome for those who need to know it.

Free-thinking should always be nurtured and promoted, on all levels [we should never simply settle for blindly obeying any form of 'Big Brother'], as well as being well-informed on all important matters, as there's never any harm in knowing too much, but potentially plenty in knowing too little!!

Marco.

[Macca]

Lots of good info there Martin, which i am sure most folk like many of us here wont have seen or heard about!
The real problem as i see it, and why the fear factor is still working is due to the severe symptoms some of the unlucky few are left with after contracting Covid-19, these symptoms are very real, and in many cases fatal, but from the data available, and considering how many of us have actually had this,[i suspect its probably getting on to at least half the uk population] the mortality rate, and those who are unlucky to have suffered the worst is still exceptionally low, however; this doesn't mean that we can dismiss the very real threat of covid-19, because you never know who may be amongst the unlucky ones who either end up with severe life long health issues, or worst, so for now, i think we still need to respect that fact, and to continue to do what we can to protect ourselves, and those around us, and hope that the majority will do the same, at least until we know [for sure] a lot more than we do now about where this thing came from, and its real purpose!

I think that those who are prone to the worst effects of the virus due to age or health should continue to take precautions. But from a purely pragmatic point of view this should not extend to destroying everyone else's lives due to excessive measures. People who are elderly and/or in poor health have always been exposed to the risks of other covid virus, notably influenza, and no extreme action has ever been taken to prevent that.

As for your last sentence, we do know where it came from, horseshoe bats via pangolins (the danger of this exact event occurring was outlined in a paper published in 'Nature' back in 2009), and it has no 'purpose' - it's a virus! It's not sentient, or even alive in the normal sense of the word.

The data presented in the video I linked to clearly indicates that this pandemic is no worse than any other previous pandemic in terms of mortality rates, I'd recommend paying particular attention to the analysis of the overall death rates in the European countries which shows that there has been zero increase in deaths since the start of the pandemic, but because most countries had less deaths than normal in the months prior to the pandemic there was some catching up to be done. The 'dry tinder' effect, again explained in the video.

I will also distance myself from the various comments regarding 'The powers that be', 'The real people in charge', 'brainwashing, false information, the threat of technology being used to 'control' us, and all the rest of it. I don't agree that any of these things are either true now or a viable threat in the future, and they just detract from the simple message which is that the danger from Covid-19 is nothing like as bad as has been portrayed and the supposed 'preventative measures' that are destroying many people's lives need to be immediately reconsidered.

Governments acted on the predictions of experts, those predictions have turned out to be spectacularly wrong. That isn't anyone's fault nor is it a conspiracy. Governments have to act on expert advice, it is an insurance policy for them. They can't afford not to lest it all goes wrong and they get lambasted for 'Not listening to the experts'.

Experts often get their predictions wrong, especially when they have very little data to work with. Cock-up, not conspiracy.

And the media will always talk everything up, it's how they get viewers, regardless of who owns the platform in question. IMO conspiracy theorizing is just as bad as the media exaggeration and hype and clouds the real issues. As always, the truth is to be found in the hard data, and no-where else.

[walpurgis]

Why are people clamouring for Covid tests at all?

They are queueing in droves for many hours or even days for what limited tests can be found available, but any results are of pretty limited use. The accuracy, one way or the other is only 70%, so largely useless! What accuracy there is, is only valid at that exact time, immediately after the test you could be exposed to infection from another person. And what the heck will you do with the information anyway? You'll (probably) still need to go to work and take the kids to school etc. The whole idea seems pointless to me, unless of course you think providing the powers that be with inaccurate information for their records is beneficial.

Also, something to consider. Are you happy with the government having your DNA information?

[Macca]

Some people like to get caught up in the hysteria. They enjoy it. It's weird, but each to his own.

Re the DNA thing - what possible use could the government make of that, nefarious or otherwise? I rack my brain but can't think of anything. Plus they'd probably lose it or get it mixed up with someone else's anyway.

[walpurgis]

It would be ironic to contract the infection whilst queueing for the test. I'm willing to bet that's happened, seeing that some with symptoms may choose to seek a test, exposing those around them.

[da2222]

Interesting viewing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UvF...ToArRE4SHDKsEM