Fact or Fiction?
Nov 2021
My car was frozen when I left for work this morning, that can only mean one thing: winter is finally here.
It’s a little late this year. Usually the biting cold sets in before Halloween and by Bonfire Night we’re wrapped up in woolly jumpers and complaining about the weather to anyone that will listen.
But this winter came with a stark warning. A warning that the colder months are when respiratory diseases thrive and Covid is likely to get a grip once again.
Read the media and you’d think we’re all in the depths of despair and disease is running rife. Every other headline is about skyrocketing cases, overwhelmed hospitals and pleas from government officials, Hollywood stars and influencers to queue up for your booster shot “to save Christmas”.
But switch off the news and step out into the world and you’ll see something different. Here in the UK, it’s life as usual. People are going to work, the theatre, movies, restaurants, school, college and getting on with their lives. There’s the odd reminder that Covid is still with us, the odd floor sticker, hand sanitiser or one-way system still in place. But friends are socialising, families visiting loved ones and kids are playing with their friends.
The majority of the public has moved on. They’ve accepted that Covid is here to stay, that with 90% of the population vaccinated, those who wish to be are protected and that two years in, it’s time to get back to life. But that’s not the picture the media is painting.
This got me thinking… How much of what we see from countries abroad is really true? How accurate a picture does our media paint of your country and its Covid situation? Is the news fact or fiction?
So I’d love to hear about your country? Is it life as normal? Or are people dying, the hospitals overrun and the virus running wild? Are you locked down or open? Are people accepting the restrictions or do you have civil unrest, protests and riots?