Image of 2021: Closed by Covid
OperaIt’s happening everywhere, causing endless pain.
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“Endless pain” would sitting in a hospital, relying on a respirator. That, or losing friends of loved ones to Covid. Fortunately, so far, Omicron doesn’t appear to be terribly virulent. That could change.
…but very probably won’t.
There are those who believe that 2022 will see the end of the stop-go-stop-go sequence in not only the Arts but wider society as the shots plus boosters hold at bay something that seems to defy the latest pharma vaccine.
We have had our jabs, we are wearing our masks, keeping our distance. Being largely virtuous but to what end? The next big thing will be scapegoating the ‘guilty’. Those who have not followed the narrative but not necessarily those who have actually kicked against it. Their time is yet to come.
Something fundamental is being engineered within society and ‘culture’ plays no part in the outcome. Much talk of ‘cancel culture’ but it is more than just the woke element of what is happening. Closure of large scale gatherings of all kinds are being encouraged but their impact seems not to be sufficiently effective. 2 weeks here, a month there. Proof of vaccination plus boosters plus a positive PCR test to cross the threshold. All to keep those who already satisfy the criterion safe. Then someone pings and the whole house of cards collapses.
There is no end to this and high culture as we have known it will not survive. Attacked as it is for being elitist and privileged on the one hand and closed down at the whim of some data model that states that stopping people from leaving their homes actually might stop something the experts don’t have the first idea how to control.
2022 looks to be a further replay of 2020 and 2021 and cancellations could soon be as much a part of the repertoire as another Boheme, Tosca or Traviata.
I agree with you. And now very little said of the huge rise in mental illness in all of this narrative, and then many not admitting they are mentally ill. It is all grinding people down. Yes, wear a mask – and your glasses at the same time – until the cows come home, but then you lose half your personality as a result of going around like a zombie. Fine if you’re naturally one of those with that kind of reclusive joyless personality who likes hiding. Avoiding getting the virus is all tgat matters, yet it is all socially and health-wise damaging in other ways and as you say, to what end? Sport, yes, you can go to see 12 days of cricket but then you have to quarantine for 14 days before it starts – expensive holiday! But culture doesn’t seem part of it all or seen as essential as a means to feed the mind. Zoom in pyjamas and a glass of wine with the lack of social sharing, even with strangers in a concert hall, is simply turning concert-goers into spectators and sofa critics as if watching a football match. There has to be more to life than not getting a virus, serious as it can be, but get out there and at least get vaccinated.
You are soooooo right, Maria, and you see how little support you get on this blog!!! Must tell you something! Should there be any surprise where are the arts going?
Most people are now unthinking, terrified bedwetters who swallow everything they hear and see on MSM news broadcasts. That’s far more worrying than this latest covid strain.
Gates already mentioned that the next one in 2025 (?) will be 10x more deadly. Looks like they are preparing a guillotine for the world.
Great post. Maybe it’s this kind of situation which will get the ‘silent majority’ to finally move. In France, an anti-vaccine pass petition has garnered nearly a million signatures within a week. It has to continue. Vaccination is one thing, but discriminating against objectors concerning a now weak virus is another altogether.
Today I went shopping and to lunch, no masks. Only the cities are mentally ill.
Depends where you live.
Pain, suffering and death. The most tragic part of it is that a portion of society has politicized the solution. In America we have a “person” whose claim to fame is denying that 6 and 7 year children were murdered in their elementary school, for which he was sued and forced to admit it is all a lie used to sell worthless products on his podcast, now telling his audience that the mRNA vaccines are “poison” genes. Unless enough people worldwide get vaccinated the virus will continue replicating and mutating and every year the cycle of hospitalizations, death and modified vaccines will become the new norm.
Well that’s America!
Disinformation is international.
Yes, but America does it particularly well and forces it don everyone else’s throat.
Omicron is responsible for less deaths than annual flu season. This has gotten ridiculous. Vax, don’t vax, mask, don’t mask…don’t care. Just get on with your lives, folks – the fear mongers want you to stay in constant panic. Ignore them and they’ll go away.
Fewer deaths, not less!!! No one has had the flu worth talking about as they’ve been vaccinated, socially distanced, and locked away for two winters! It is the worrying lack of staff in key areas on life that is causing a huge problem. It’s not about death, but the problem of having fewer members of staff in place to run transport, fire and emergency services, police, and hospitals with other diseases to cater for, never mind about any firm of the virus. We have no right to spread the virus to our vital workforces out of selfishness.
I’m not sure where you received your public health or infectious disease training but in the US the difference in death from flu is ~ 1000 deaths per week vs. COVID ~1500 deaths per day. When was the last time that an airline flight was canceled due to workers infected with flu? Perhaps your dog is confused but the data is clear get vaccinated and wear a KN95 mask to stop the spread.
No. You are conflating the first wave and delta with Omicron. Just stop. My dog is fine, too.
Every single day in America we are losing ~1500 human beings and the infection rate YESTERDAY was ~ 300,000 and appears to be climbing. Glad to hear about your dog but stop the disinformation campaign.
You should keep up-CDC just revised their COVID prevalence e downward today. Your disinformation is causing you and many, many others to live in fear.
BS; they are predicting ~ 500,000 within the next week. Try the truth for a change, it would be refreshing.
Talk about conflating/misrepresenting facts. The CDC did not change anything about prevalence they changed the number of days you need to isolate if you think you’ve been infected or confirmed it with an Ag test. What do you get out of trying to bs people about a global pandemic that has killed millions and infected 100s of millions? It’s very simple get vaccinated and wear an KN95 mask or you will end up in the hospital and/or spread COVID.
The British Government has just released a statement saying that data concerning covid hospital admissions has been misleading. Entries for corporal damage, such as bike accidents, domestic falls etc are automatically tested. If they’re positive, they are registered as ‘Covid patients’. Suits the narrative. Anyone seen the last ten minutes of ‘The Wizard of Oz’? Same thing.
An infection is an infection period. Tell families with dead loved ones about your “suits the narrative” nonsense. Cash in your bitcoin for disinformation before the music stops and it is worthless.
No doubt with your medical expertise you would have no issue introducing a patient with an airborne infectious disease into the general hospital population but fortunately, actual physicians know that that individual must be isolated. Keep suggesting ways to make a global pandemic worse.
Omicron spreads incredibly quickly, therefore it can cause problems in hospitals since too many people are then ill at the same time. Also if omicron is less sickening than other variants.
Also there is not enough data yet to draw valid conclusions. Omicron has spread especially among the younger generation at the moment, so you can’t compare it with a flu that has spread among all age categories.
Many empty seats in Berlin, Staatsoper offering 20% discounts in January and February, many tickets given back for the Ring at the Deutsche Oper…
Get your folks, shots!
We went to the Staatsoper, Berlin to see The Marriage of Figaro many years ago, and as the lights dimmed, many in the audience moved to better seats, so unsold seats is not a recent phenomenon. Never experienced this anywhere else, is it a German thing?
With so many performances on offer in so many venues, who the hell would bother going to Figaro anywhere, anytime?
Get your tickets, more like.
It’s not closed by covid.
It’s closed by POLITICIANS.