As a teenager I found it interesting going round to the house of one of my friends. His mother is Jewish and some of the males in her family were Rabbis. His father was a Seventh Day Adventist who was an elder of the church, as was his uncles and grandfather. I used to be fascinated by their religious discussion but soon got bored of them. My friend was just a normal teenager - which was some sort of miracle
When I lived in Ohio, my town was really close to a large Jewish community. Had a few Jewish friends, and dated a few Jewish guys, went to a few Jewish parties. So in that association with the Jewish personality and mannerisms that stuck in my head, it was neither good or bad it was just how they were. Fast forward, I moved to PA, during college secured an internship with an awesome women named Lillian. Months went by with her learning a lot from her. One day someone said to me that she was taking some day off for her Jewish holiday, I said, she's Jewish???? Yep they said. Blown me away, she did not have any of the mannerisms or personality type I had grown to find "normal" with the folks from Ohio. Got me to start thinking of observing other folks from other states regarding mannerisms etc, Human behavior is very unique. One of my job positions, I worked with an Orthodox Jewish young lady, it was so interesting to learn from her their rules and traditions, why they live like they do, practice like they do, dress like they do. Neat. Last I heard from her years ago, she and her husband and child moved to Isreal. Hope all is well with them.
I hear the covid inquiry will start looking into how covid affected the elderly. What on earth have they been doing all this time, the inquiry must be costing more than the pandemic did.
It wasn't so bad for us as we have our large garden that is easily accessible. Friends who didn't have gardens used to just turn up to sit there - didn't need to phone. We had pairs of chairs dotted around the garden spaced six metres apart and cans of antiseptic spray by each pair of chairs. Although nothing was organised there were sometimes a few pairs just sitting and chatting. It helped them get through the situation better.
Looking at how prepared we were, Government actions, effect on NHS, treatments, PPE contracts, now the care sector, another 4 stages to go after this. More info www.covid19.public-inquiry.uk
And I bet when it does finally finish there will be no definite outcome, just reams and and reams of paper that everyone will just cherry pick the bits that suit them, doubt any lessons will be learned. I think most other countries have had their inquiries and forgotten about them. Might be good if they can actually come up with some findings before the next one comes along, that they keep telling us is inevitable, be a bit embarrassing if this is still going on. It's not only infrastructure which we cant build anymore, we seem to struggle with inquiries as well.
My opinion is they decided before they started that "lock down harder and faster" was going to be the recommendation. Apparently citizens dying in a pandemic is unacceptable, but in a war it is just fine. And that tells you all you need to know about who makes money out of both situations. What the enquiry seems not to be looking at is how much public support there would be for gov edicts in another pandemic situation. My guess is, having seen the ongoing damage inflicted on children during the last one, it will be a whole lot more difficult to scare people into complying, especially if the next one comes along soonish.
Inquiries aren't the problem. making sure they are thorough and ask the right questions is another matter. Accepting the results and recommendations and acting upon them seems to be a major stumbling block. How many times do we see the NHS, police service, social services, housing services etc and many more in positions to improve lives and help people failing because of poor information, poor practices and refusing to follow best practice that would improve services and efficiency.
You have to weigh up costs though, both financial and human. Yes, you could stockpile PPE, but if the next pandemic doesn't happen for a decade or has a different type of transmission, it may all go to waste. Is that good use of resources in a country where poverty is on the rise in the here and now? You could lockdown really tightly, but the human cost is absolutely massive, emotionally, financially, and in health terms - lack of exercise, sunlight, etc. What are you sacrificing in exchange for lives saved (or, more accurately, deaths delayed)? That is the equation.
You don't need to stockpile PPE in huge quantities @ViewAhead but have mechanisms in place where home grown suppliers can switch quickly to producing them as well as swift vaccine development and manufacture. Essentials like this should not have to be outsourced abroad as this causes delays, high costs and breaks in the supply chain. Similarly, there need to be strategies in place for facilitating lockdowns, ensuring facilities are ready to help the vulnerable and make sure supply chains for essential items are not interrupted. The west has armies of soldiers and emergency services who are experts at strategy and logistics given the necessary training and equipment. It isn't rocket science, just good planning.
The problem as I see it, is that no matter the enquiries findings, we will have a new government and new problem to face, which will just get cocked up in a new and unique way. Very little seems to ever be learned from the past, going on how history repeats itself.
