This notice was on the door as I walked into the hospital yesterday. Translation…

BE RESPONSIBLE On Your Visits

STOP FLU

IF YOU HAVE FLU SYMPTOMS (fever, cough, sore throat, rhinitis)
Please don’t enter, so you don’t put patients at risk

IF YOUR VISIT IS URGENT, wear a mask
(you can ask for one from the staff on your floor)

Flu, huh? It’s like everyone is afraid to say the C Word anymore. I mean, as you know, I’ve been a regular hospital visitor for well over 15 years and I don’t remember ever seeing Flu warnings posted before, and especially not with a request to wear a mask.

Meanwhile it seems Covid is taking the world by storm once again with its latest variant JN.1 which only yesterday the WHO finally publicly recognised as a “variant of interest”, recommending masks in all hospital and health care settings. But as we all know, recommending does fuck all.

Gotta say this global “save the economy” strategy was expertly played by simply relying on peoples’ inherent selfishness and creating the us-and-them “healthy vs vulnerable” thang whilst withholding crucial data from the public. As expected, the majority of the (first) world decided that a small inconvenience was too much for them to bear because they were the healthy ones and so the rest could either JUST STAY HOME or THEY could wear a mask if it made them feel safer. Us and Them. Them and Us. But you know, which one is which? Because it turns out that we are ALL the vulnerable ones, no matter how much the “healthy” people tell themselves otherwise. That FAFO situation is already unfolding as we speak but unfortunately it will take irrefutable evidence before the Covid deniers will accept what is actually going on in front of them.

Shame that none of this evidence reaches us anymore. It’s always been there but now it’s all “don’t test don’t tell” and just telling people what they want to hear. Meanwhile JN.1 sounds like a big time motherfucker and so I will be taking precautions. Stay safe out there, amigos.