Tier 4

[marinabrian]

Originally Posted by Caulkhead

Always listen to any of your brilliant advice to keep my 75 on the road, I am in awe of your knowledge, experience and determination to offer help. I was very sad when you retired, and delighted when you were back offering 75 advice.

As for this post, and others you have made recently about Covid, Well, while respecting your right to hold views and express them, I find that the experience of my friends and family leads me to very very different conclusions to many you appear to have reached.

I have friends who have fantastic children working for the NHS, they include paramedics, nurses and administrators, they are brave, resilient and determined to do everything they can to care for their patients, they are exhausted, some have been through Covid themselves, one has died, whilst you report that your local hospital is doing well, others are not, and I hope your hospital continues to cope, but it will only do so if people do all they can to stop the transmission, hands, face, space seems to be the best advice, or do you have better recommendations?

I would like to ask if you would have worn a mask if there had been another customer, or would have gone into the bank if there had been other customers not wearing masks?

Do you not think that the bank should have refused to serve you? I disagree with much of the “advice” from experts and ministers, but never break the law deliberately or knowingly.

If I had come into the bank and challenged you, how would you have responded?

I have my tin hat on awaiting responses, take care and stay safe.

Well as it happens Roy, I choose to wear a mask when shopping, simply to avoid having to explain myself to others, however I chose not to wear a mask when conducting a cash transaction in a bank, where it was obvious by looking through a plate glass window facing the street that I would be the only customer in the branch.

I realise it is mandated to wear a face mask in certain public spaces, however there are people for whatever reason are exempted from doing so.

If I had been challenged by a member of staff, or indeed if another customer had entered the branch and challenged me, I would have produced the card from my wallet pictured above.

Although dogeared, it is an official exemption card issued to me in June of last year.

These were primarily intended for users of public transport, as at the time of issue this was the only public place where mask wearing was mandated.

I accept that many people will throw up their hands in horror at the mere suggestion that an individual is being non compliant with the plethora of rules and regulations thrown out at seemingly random intervals by the powers that be at the moment, without giving due consideration to that persons individual circumstances.

In terms of mask wearing, if you see someone not wearing a mask, you simply give them a wide berth it is not at all difficult to do.

How many times have you seen people wearing a mask in a supermarket, often incorrectly, then simply reach over in front of you to grab an item from the shelf, without any regard for the invasion of your personal space?

So many people don a face covering and suddenly become impervious to danger....no but that is the sad reality of many people and their perception of their own invulnerability to Covid, not realising that the very thing set out in law to prevent transmission of this virus, is in part exacerbating the problem.

NHS, yes I applaud all of those involved in the front line of this organisation from the domestics and porters up to the chief executives of the trust and all of those in between.

If you follow my posts on this subject, you would realise I am married to an NHS front line worker, and further to that she is in charge of a ward that has been repurposed specifically to the care of Covid positive patients.

This gives me a very real insight as to the situation in regards to the local demands placed upon the local healthcare system and it's employees by Covid 19.

I realised I may have been vilified when I posted as I did, but to be fair I'm pretty fed up with the amount of speculation, and blatent untruths surrounding Covid.

And as a "recovered" Covid positive person currently involved in a study to better understand the virus and it's effects, I feel as if I'm contributing enough at the moment to counter any perceived negatives.

Any figures I quote in relation to Covid are collated in person from sources such as the ONS, PHE, or the SIREN program, and not simply "pub talk" if you can remember what a pub is of course

I'm not here simply being argumentative, however there is always another side to the story that often goes untold.

Oh and happy New Year everyone

Brian