Common Sense Returns.

 Gosh, it isn't that hard to understand, is it?

At the beginning of March the powers that be decided to lift almost all corona strictures and as it turns out, more to appease popular sentiment than to underscore medical certainty.

Fair enough, some modicum of freedom might have been okay, but the one thing that could have made a difference was ignored.  One thing that would have hurt nobody and seeing that we have had two years to get used to it, bothered nobody either.

The FFP-2 mask. The one and only proven goalie between the covid bug and our noses and throats. All along it was said that this mask can reduce exposure to the bug by up to 90 %. Great odds; big return for little input. Even though it was deemed that this mask was no longer needed, I kept on using mine when out shopping and in crowded areas.

Most ditched them though and now we have the dilemma. Almost everyday for the past two weeks the daily new corona infections have been between 40 000 and almost 60 000 cases! Austria is a relative small country with only close to 9 million people. No wonder our incidence number is the highest in Europe if not the world.

Well, finally last night the government issued a decree whereby everyone has to wear this FFP-2 mask indoors, while shopping and in crowded places. Hallelujah. About time. A little mask is a small price to pay in order to stop people from getting sick. A lot of people think it is a harmless bit of a cold, and for some it is, but many others are and will be afflicted with long covid.

Let's hope this new measure will get our infection numbers down fast, because 50 000 a day could easily morph into 100 000 a day in no time at all.

Biggi