Masks are back in the UK

@shallow-blue said
Wrong.

Right-wing, populist politicians have failed.

Science would've ordered a vaccine mandate for everybody from the age of 3 to 120, no excuses accepted. Politics didn't have the balls.

@shallow-blue said
Yup. And being anti-vax means you're in the bottom third. Go home and die there; stop being a burden on the rest of us.

@trev33 said
And destroy the mental heath of an already fragile planet? Covid and all its variants have been around now for 2 years, 2 years, has the worlds population gone down by any significant amount? It’s time we treated it like any other disease and got on with LIVING. Can’t be living in fear forever.

Covid's as good as gone now in Indonesia, which for a nation of 270 odd million souls (the 4th most populous nation on the planet), with the seething metropolis of Jakarta at centre isn't bad going. The vax program continues, but with 17,508 islands and people still living in tree - houses it's hard to get around to everyone. So the government's gone for the 'let's not get it in the first place' approach; wear masks, (sometimes 2 masks....) and get vaxed -up when you can. Close international borders and make it impossible to fly between provinces without a negative PCR test BEFORE you get on an airplane. We even have to have an antigen test when we land, in case we picked it up en - route....I've been tested more times than I care to remember. Since within a few days of Covid, hand washing and sanitizing units sprung up everywhere in the cities, you can't go into a bank/shop/anywhere without having your temperature taken and without a mask on, and now you can't go into shopping malls, airports etc without evidence of double - jabbing.
Of course you can't compare equatorial Indonesia to Europe, for a start it's an all - year - round outside lifestyle here, the people here do what they're told, if the government says 'wear a mask' you wear a fuking mask, (or get arrested) and there's no significant 'anti - vax' lobby here. Sure, the economy has suffered, particularly Bali without the tourists, but everyone gets by and has enough to eat, with family and community support for anyone really struggling.
As a foreigner living here, apart from not being able to leave Indonesian borders (well, we could leave but getting back would be tricky to impossible) and having things shoved into you on a regular basis, it's been a breeze, and I hope the current regime continues for as long as it takes. Indonesia has quietly dealt with the virus whilst the western world has been in headless chicken mode, people worry about having their human rights infringed by having to wear a mask or having a potentially life - saving inoculation, and all in all, I'm glad we've been here.

@contenchess said
This virus is worldwide. Quit acting like the USA right wingers are to blame.