10 Years ago. They say if it lasts the first 10 years, then it’ll last a lifetime. Hopefully.

June, July, August 2022: ~7,370 (Source)

June, July, August 2020: ~5,200

BillBC today:

That’s like 3.5 people fewer than died with COVID-19 this past summer alone.

Latest available figures, released about an hour ago:

2022. Patients in hospital across the UK with COVID-19 (no lock-downs, but no restrictions on distance and exposure):

11-09-2022 5,875
10-09-2022 5,848
09-09-2022 6,020
08-09-2022 6,146
07-09-2022 6,212
06-09-2022 6,400
05-09-2022 6,515
04-09-2022 6,523
03-09-2022 6,484
02-09-2022 6,664
01-09-2022 6,915

Many of the above won’t make it until the Queen’s funeral.

2020. Patients in hospital across the UK with COVID-19 (no lock-downs, but masks worn and distance kept):

12-09-2020 814
11-09-2020 772
10-09-2020 946
09-09-2020 926
08-09-2020 896
07-09-2020 904
06-09-2020 819
05-09-2020 814
04-09-2020 820
03-09-2020 819
02-09-2020 805
01-09-2020 863

Remember: Surviving is one option; leaving the hospitals isn’t the end of it. You’re left scarred for life. After a while, if or when you die, they won’t even count you as a COVID-19 casualty.

Is the ‘convenience’ of ignoring the death toll worth the sacrifice?

It’s possible that the current monarchy ended earlier partly because of COVID-19 (both the husband and the wife).

Maybe she could exceed 80 years in the throne had she not been infected.

The September figures from StatCounter say that about one in 10 Indians is using GNU/Linux on the desktop/laptop; What’s significant here is the large number of users that translates into

ustice and monarchs are not concepts that can be reconciled (to coexist). Let’s choose one over the other.

My thoughts about Elizabeth’s death were expressed online and have been on the public record since the day the death was announced. I personally did not dislike Elizabeth and I know people who had strong opinions, harsh experiences etc. Hence, they disliked her and/or what she stood for.

70+ years is a very long time. It’s a sort of ‘time bridge’ (or wormhole) to the distant past. They insist that the “royals” no longer play any meaningful political role. If that is the case, then what’s the point of them?

Elizabeth was liked by many, both at home and abroad. The same cannot be said about either of her sons, including the elder.

Maybe it’s about time to accept that in a country where many say “eat or heat” it makes no sense to pay a ton of taxpayers’ money for both a funeral and a coronation. Maybe the big funeral can take place. A funeral not just for Elizabeth but also for the monarchy as a whole.

Democratic societies should recognise imperialism for what it is — a relic of the past, a shameful disgrace that involved colonialism, slavery etc. even if euphemisms like “commonwealth” are used (the wealth is not shared; it’s about extraction).

As noted before, Elizabeth seemed like a generally good person. Ending the Monarchy with “Elizabeth the Second” would seem better than ending it with another major scandal/blunder involving Andrew, Charles, and their sex lives.

As a side story, I was a room apart from “the Queen” when I was in London aged about 9^*, she passed by us just over a decade ago in her car, and I was close to shaking hands with his son Charles some years when he visited Manchester. There’s nothing magical or exceptional about them, unless you believe the hype of course…

Judge people by their accomplishments, not family heritage.

____
^* If I remember correctly, my parents asked if I could enter to see her too. My Ph.D. Supervisor received an OBE from her (in person). But she hands out a load of these. “BE” stands for something that seems like a stain on one’s reputation in the scientific world. We seek merit, not “medals” from self-appointed ‘royals’. Such medals are meant to serve themselves and their egos.

Here are things in perspective (England; new AstraZeneca customers)

Recent months (England); there are now well under 1,000 new adopters per day (those are mostly kids):

Distribution by age (notice it barely changes anymore):

Interesting turn of events today:

Notice the numbers. Don’t we still need to identify who is infected? Apparently not. Liz TruSSmp acts as if COVID-19 was more or less a hoax and the Queen, who caught COVID-19 some months ago, has just died.

Will the Queen’s death be used as pretext to not release COVID-19 information for a while? All the pages in the portal look like this now:

I have nothing against the Queen. For the record, I have some respect for her. But the way COVID-19 is handled is a disservice for those of us not planning to get infected.