Re: CV and mad panic behaviour
Reply #7194 –
As you know 3 Leos, I also work in health care (mental health) and during the pandemic had plenty of contact with medicos from a number of differing medical specialties. And just like here, there were plenty of differing opinions as to how the pandemic should be handled, how severe the virus was and who were the best qualified to recommend actions (to pollies). The one agreement was that our systems were ill-equipped to handled a massive influx of infected (yes, mostly medically vulnerable folks) people into hospitals.
With respect, I don't think you need an enlightened mind to see errors made. (I use the term hindsight in reference to those who condemn the actions of those in charge during the pandemic assuming that they should have or did know, what we know now). Simple experience and common sense see mistakes were made and we will and have learned from that. First among those lessons is how neglected our hospitals and associated emergency care agencies have been and still are. There are those of us, and I suspect you are among the ranks, who have been pointing out just how inadequate our health care agencies for years... decades! The systems were already stressed and hanging on by a thread before the pandemic.
The vulnerable. Yes there were vulnerable whose health was very compromised and Covid simply dealt the final blow to overwhelm their bodies. However, there were many vulnerable who were undergoing treatment who would have lived without the pandemic delivering a knockout blow. Both groups deserved our best efforts to protect them.
As far as mental health goes... we've learned that lockdowns can and do have a devastating effect on the mental health of many, ranging from those without mental health issues (in fact, creating issues) to those already struggling with mental health issues (worsening them, considerably). And a good % of these folks are still seeking and undergoing treatment in an area horribly under resourced. This area (mental health) is further hampered by the stigmas and ignorance still prevalent in the community. It's improving, but still too slowly.