Pandemic

Where is your mask hanging?

In Switzerland a three hour drive feels long, but in France or Spain it does not. I drove from Switzerland to Spain and from Spain to switzerland. The drive to Spain is easier because traffic gets lighter as you get further south. Most of the time this is true. This time, as I drove from Spain to Switzerland I came across the opposite. From the moment I started driving I encountered traffic.

Last night I was reading and began seeing the pandemic as a journey. The pandemic has been a journey for everyone, but especially for those in solitude. For those of us in solitude, it has required that we completely change how we consume the media and how we interact with the world. We go for weeks without hugs, without kisses, without meals with other people. For weeks, we may exchange a few words at a shop or petrol station but without ever having in person conversations.

This is the day 16+ and 5+ year olds could get boosters and Vaccinate in Switzerland. For 16+ year olds, at least in Vaud, we are now eligible for vaccination, as long as we’re in the country. I am not. I have to wait until I get back. This is a big step forward. Being able to get a booster is good. 5+ year old children should be able to get their first vaccine shortly, although the details are not clear yet.

In theory I should remain neutral and not comment about current affairs but what is happening in Europe and the US merits comment. The runaway growth of the pandemic warrants comment. We are in week 98 of the pandemic, just two away from 100 weeks and people are still debating whether to wear masks, sing in choirs and more. People are still meeting in large crowds and doing more irrational things.

Imagine that you break a leg, but instead of speaking about rehabilitating that leg, and getting back to doing fun things, you get distracted by the joy/misfortune of breaking your leg again. I see people worrying about the next pandemic today, but this is silly. Why would you start thinking about the next pandemic when the current one isn’t understood or declining? Instead of ignoring the current problem and focusing on the next, people should be addressing a number of key problems.

If you’re wearing a mask, glasses, a hat, and have a fleece that covers your neck you look like the invisible man. I have been thinking about that recently, as I look at my reflection. Imagine if I was completely transparent. Pandemic times would be an excellent moment to hide that we’ve had an accident in a lab that made us invisible. Of course we are not invisible. We are just dressed for the weather, and the risk of being contaminated by Delta or Omicron, or the next variant of interest, whenever that may be.

A yellow flower We cannot always walk around in circles during a pandemic around where we live. I spent over a year walking around in circles near home in Switzerland but this Christmas I travelled. I didn’t travel because I wanted to. I travelled because sometimes we need to see family. I also travelled to escape all of the Christmas rubbish in Switzerland. We are in a pandemic. I haven’t socialised in over two years.

So far we have read a lot of articles saying that Omicron could be mild but as of this evening it is being treated as highly contagious. 2000 people, 1600 children and 400 staff are quarantined by decision of Vaud and Geneva. It would see that the newest variant is serious enough to quarantine an entire school with multiple campuses. We have to see whether this attitude lasts or whether it is short lived.

As I struggled to find a neutral topic to write about I noticed the distinct difference between how the French and the Swiss media are speaking about the fifth wave. The swiss say that it is “pre-occupying” and that it “has won the French speaking part of Switzerland” and “no long term impact on Swiss finances.” Switzerland is not taking the pandemic seriously anymore and reminds me of England. It is denying that there is a problem and taking reactive rather than pro-active measures.