Sven Ornelis: “It’s not normal how many people have been struggling for weeks now”

Are you also in the club? There is a three chance that you, like me, have been sniffling one handkerchief after another for weeks. That you’re gurgling from the depths of your lungs. That your throat is sandpaper. Maybe not sick enough to stay home or in hospital, but very sick. Headaches, sore throats, chills, coughing, and especially that damn nose that won’t open. It’s not normal how many people have been struggling for weeks now. Sometimes you think for a moment that the end of the tunnel is in sight, but then you relapse again. It is a procession from Echternach. This may have something to do with autumn and the persistent bad weather. Viruses and bacteria are everywhere in the air. You might even think that we should start washing our hands again for thirty seconds. With a manual. And disinfect with alcohol. Maybe we should keep a distance of one and a half meters again. Does anyone have any face masks lying around? Shouldn’t we put it back on? Isolate ourselves? Start living in bubbles. And shouldn’t we ban all people who, out of principle or rebellion, have not taken a flu shot (I did get one at work, by the way) from going to a café or restaurant? Shouldn’t we also immediately ban people from sitting on a bench in the park, or from leaving their house after 10 p.m.? No, we’re not going to do that? Would be too crazy. Because even if half the population is now sniffling, no one would accept such rigid measures today. Look, two years ago I was actually a very close follower of all Covid measures. I did not want to go against the government, and of course I wanted to protect myself, but also the weak and the elderly. But every now and then I wonder whether I would be such a meek sheep again today if such a virus were to come our way again? Me, who demanded a Covid test from everyone who came to eat with me, long after it was mandatory, but who now lives sniffling as if nothing is wrong?