Coronavirus outbreak

[theMathematician]

Really? Unlike the person's smelling really bad or is obviously dirty, I never worried about that. I guess my attitute results out of a 'Well, germs are everywhere anyway, so why even bother?' motive.

[Thriller]

I'm quite glad for handshakes to stay dead, the thought of where people are putting their hands throughout their day has always bothered me so much so I couldn't really settle until I'd washed someone's hand off my own following a handshake

[theMathematician]

jordi_89 : Thanks a lot for really taking your time to write your answers in this and the other sociopolitical threads! I enjoyed reading them, especially with UKMix having turned a bit sleepy lately.
I couldn't read an immediate question out of your posts, but if there is one, feel free to ask it !

[InFamous]

Most of those things say they kill 99% of germs, and tbh knowing my luck I’d get the 1% left.

Ah bless you

[AceReject]

I pretty much used my own from the start. Some of the stuff they had in the public ones has been nasty.

However, it doesnt really matter if you touch the button cos the premise is that youre gonna sanitize your hands directly after so if anything was on the button the sanitizer will take care of it I

In some places they had a foot pedal !!

Most of those things say they kill 99% of germs, and tbh knowing my luck I’d get the 1% left.

[jordi_89]

For example the following:
- origin of the virus:

I wouldn't count those as conspiracy theories. Maybe except for the first one, that was a theory that spread quite fast because many people hate China. I'd love to know where did the virus come from though. Either bat soup, or that other animal whose name I can't recall or it escaped from a lab, I hope we find out someday.

- quality of the vaccines:

As for the vaccine quality, it's one of those things that get blown out of proportion. We knew that a vaccine being developed so fast wouldn't be 100% effective, we just didn't know the % (I think anything above 80% is pretty damn good). But clickbait culture and everyone being too loud, too dumb and too dramatic has made this seem like no scientist knows what they're doing and that the vaccines "don't work", when that is simply not true. But we as a society love to be dumb.

- vaccination & infection:

Some politicians & media people did push the idea that vaccines would prevent being infected, but again that's one of those things taken out of context or blown out of proportion. MOST people did say "you can still get infected, but you won't spread it as much, and you won't get as sick", which is TRUE. But when people have this idea ingrained in their brain that they've been "lied to" by those in power, no matter how many times you try to repeat it to them, that they'll still believe anything their uncle sends them on WhatsApp (unless they're the uncle). Btw herd immunity means ENOUGH people have been vaccinated or have been infected that they create a kind of barrier to prevent the further spread of the virus. I don't think ANY country has reached herd immunity.
Gibraltar, that country near Palestine and a few more countries could have reached it if it wasn't for the many waves and mutations this virus has had (+ reinfections). Now it's basically impossible unless every single human gets infected in the same couple of weeks, because way too many countries f***ed up the response.

- dropping measurements:

Dropping measures has been a mess everywhere for what I've just said before (among other things).

- government profit:

I mean, why would anyone trust politicians. Of course some of them will make money off it. This is not a "pandemic issue", this happens with every other issue, from affordable housing to creating new parks.

- mandatory vaccination:

As far as I know, mandatory vaccination has been a thing in other pandemics, and for other deadly viruses. Shouldn't be a controversial issue now, so I'm not gonna comment on it.

[jordi_89]

HIV was a new (and very, VERY deadly) virus in the 80's, yet no country pre-screened travelers entering its borders.

HIV mostly killed gays in the 80s so the governments didn't care. If anything they were fine with the virus spreading (because as you know it's not an airborne virus).


And as others have pointed out, covid-19 may not be "completely new" but it was way MORE contagious than the other coronaviruses that hit the middle east and south-east asia hard a few years ago.

[jordi_89]

The hand shake culture is dead and it‘s not coming back. I refuse.

One of the few good things to come out of this.

[InFamous]

Well youre meant to wipe down your sweaty gym equipment after you use it anyway, if you have any sort of basic manners or correct gym behaviour about you. That has really nothing to do with Corona except perhaps a stronger cleaning solution was being used.

[theMathematician]

Sanitizers were a big thing up like summer 2020. From then on, occassionally people have still used them here, but it became more of a voluntary thing and more businesses kept the santizers out of a feeling of formality rather than really necessity. For supermarkets or restaurants, I have never used them. For the gym, I did use them out of formality for quite a while, but I started toning it down and now have no longer used the one at the checking in station for a few months. I still sanitize the handles of the machines or weights after having used them, but not as thoroughly as I initially used to, and definitely don't make a fuss about it if someone else forgets (In the beginning, I really feared that if someone forgets it, it could lead to infections, which could lead to another lockdown or something .).

[InFamous]

Dentists and opticians are the worst for the “forced” hand sanitiser. I don’t like using it because you have to touch the button that a million people have also touched, but I do get funny looks when I say “no thanks, I’ll use my own”.

I pretty much used my own from the start. Some of the stuff they had in the public ones has been nasty.

However, it doesnt really matter if you touch the button cos the premise is that youre gonna sanitize your hands directly after so if anything was on the button the sanitizer will take care of it I

In some places they had a foot pedal !!

[AceReject]

Dentists and opticians are the worst for the “forced” hand sanitiser. I don’t like using it because you have to touch the button that a million people have also touched, but I do get funny looks when I say “no thanks, I’ll use my own”.

[InFamous]

I wouldn’t say forced to, but I’ve definitely been in more than one shop where they said “could you please use the sanitizer first” or something to that effect. Also when I went to a restaurant in Gran Canaria I walked straight through to speak to the waiter and was sort of marched back to the entrance to use the sanitising station which was a bit embarrassing.

Oh yes they take things VERY seriously in Spain.

I would love to have seen you marched back though lol.

[SholasBoy]

I never once saw anyone being "forced " to sanitize lol. Have you honestly seen that happen ?

I wouldn’t say forced to, but I’ve definitely been in more than one shop where they said “could you please use the sanitizer first” or something to that effect. Also when I went to a restaurant in Gran Canaria I walked straight through to speak to the waiter and was sort of marched back to the entrance to use the sanitising station which was a bit embarrassing.

[InFamous]

Yes, there are usually sanitizer bottles or dispensers somewhere near entrances to most shops, but it seems to be voluntary now. I know a lot did used to make customers sanitizer before entering, my favourite was Lush who had little pearls of their own soaps on entrance where they encouraged you to wash your hands with it.

I never once saw anyone being "forced " to sanitize lol. Have you honestly seen that happen ?

[InFamous]

SholasBoy : So just (voluntary) santizers and that's it?

Sanitizer has never once been anything except voluntary. I refuse to believe that anyone in Germany has been forced to sanitize thier hands by the police.

Also, you know perfectly well that all measures have been removed in the UK for ages now so why are you acting as if you dont ? Nightclubs have been open for months, its been business as usual.

[SholasBoy]

SholasBoy : So just (voluntary) santizers and that's it?

Yes, there are usually sanitizer bottles or dispensers somewhere near entrances to most shops, but it seems to be voluntary now. I know a lot did used to make customers sanitizer before entering, my favourite was Lush who had little pearls of their own soaps on entrance where they encouraged you to wash your hands with it.

[theMathematician]

SholasBoy : So just (voluntary) santizers and that's it?

[DnBLover]

Well I would have to disagree with that. Almost No one is sanitizing now going into shops where as people were all doing it back at the start. Certainly no one is wearing gloves anymore either and in fact a lot of shops have removed all the santizing stuff now. I still wash my hands when i get home after having been in town but that is more something i do because i just like to do it, as opposed to having some fear that there is covid on my hands lol. No.

Just because you don't do it it doesn't mean there isn't a significant proportion of people doing it. I didn't say everyone did it, I know plenty of people doing it in a way they didn't do it before the pandemic. Sanitizer is still almost everywhere in Norway where people have stopped wearing masks, and people still use it despite not taking any other measure. So what I said holds true, people feel nice doing it. And there are of course advantages, but it really has almost nothing to do with Covid.

[SholasBoy]

Sanitizer still seems to be available in most shops, but you really do have to look for it sometimes!

[InFamous]

It's not from that early on. But yes, this is true, some people still obsess with washing hands, no hugging and stuff, when covid is airborne. But that was pushed really hard in the beginning, and it's a simple measure that gives a false sense of security to people as they are used to it.

Well I would have to disagree with that. Almost No one is sanitizing now going into shops where as people were all doing it back at the start. Certainly no one is wearing gloves anymore either and in fact a lot of shops have removed all the santizing stuff now. I still wash my hands when i get home after having been in town but that is more something i do because i just like to do it, as opposed to having some fear that there is covid on my hands lol. No.

[InFamous]

The fact that the UK doesn't require isolation for positive cases says it all, really. With this decision, COVID has become just like the seasonal flu / common cold.

Its quite strange that you seem to have been waiting for this GOTCHA moment when you can point your fingers and claim Ha ha Told you so !!

All this moving forward and relaxing of rules has been able to happen because the serious strains seem to have died off and Omicron which is a much milder strain has taken over and become dominant. Let me assure you that EVERYONE is happy about this, we all want to see the end to this and a return to complete normality.

What is happening now does not change anything about what happened during this pandemic, how serious it was and the millions of people that died from covid and the many people who lost loved ones and family members, including numerous members of this very website.

Your agenda in this thread is so completely uncalled for and so strange, that I really have to question your motives.

[InFamous]

IMO, it is just a lame excuse. I do not buy it.

SARS‑CoV‑2 belongs to the broad family of coronaviruses. It's not entirely new.

HIV was a new (and very, VERY deadly) virus in the 80's, yet no country pre-screened travelers entering its borders.

Another false equivalency.

HIV is spread via sexual contact. Covid is spread by breathing.

They are not comparable in any way.

[theMathematician]

What are the current Covid rules in the US? Do you need a vaccination certificate for anything? Is anything closed? Is a mask required for anything?

[theMathematician]

No friend of mine will ever kiss or hug me. Covid was a great excuse to end this horrible tradition. Also Turkish people come very near to talk to you, there's literally no social distance.

Do you mean good friends or just acquaintances? I once was in France and was irritated by random strangers kissing you, so I'm not that much of a fan of that practice. Of course two people can still do it if they feel well with it and it's consensual. Therefore, I think it's legitimate if it happens between good friends.