The light at the end of the Covid nightmare tunnel is gradually coming into view

Thanks to decisive action by several Nordic countries and, above all, our immediate neighbors, some people in our stubborn Kariņš/Pavļuts government have begun to show signs of sanity. Even the Prime Minister, Krišjānis Kariņš, has been forced to admit that the coalition is planning to introduce some relaxation of the Covid-19 restrictions from March 1. The exact details will be decided at a government meeting on February 15.

However, a Kariņš government would not be a Kariņš government if it did not delay as long as possible in introducing the easing of restrictions. It just seems that harassing and torturing people brings pleasure to Kariņš/Pavļuts and their electorate. However, gradually the stubborn party camp is splitting and new euphemisms are appearing, which tell us where the wind is blowing from.

For example, the Minister of Economics, Jānis Vitenbergs, has declared that "the fragmented sector-specific restrictions must come to an end." This means that the ministry, and therefore the NA, will not support the abolition of selective restrictions. A comprehensive approach for all. Minister of Welfare Gatis Eglītis proposes to abolish compulsory vaccination for private-sector employees. This would mean that only employees in education, medical institutions and public administration would remain subject to compulsory vaccination. This actually overlaps with the position of Vitenbergs, who speaks as if on behalf of entrepreneurs.

A possible compromise could therefore be that in the private sector Covid is canceled, but in the state (public) sector everything remains pretty much as before. Then the principle "the wolf is fed and the goat is alive" would be seemingly respected. In other words, it is as if the restrictions have been lifted, but at the same time some of the tangling webs around people's feet remain, and the S&M club named after Kariņš/Pavļuts gets a modicum of satisfaction. This would, of course, be the worst-case scenario, but the Kariņš government is famous for choosing the worst of bad options.

It should also be noted that medical officials have finally started talking about what Neatkarīgā has been talking about for a long time. That one of the main factors preventing the lifting of the restrictions and the related state of emergency is the large and extensive Covid bonuses. These apply not only to medical workers, but to a very wide section of the workforce. Rinalds Muciņš, Chairman of the Board of Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital, puts it bluntly: "The 100% bonuses that medical staff receive for working with Covid-19 patients have been in place for two years, and staff have started to see them as a base salary. Abolishing them would be akin to a 'moral hangover' and will be very severe." Grigorijs Semjonovs, a Member of the Board of Daugavpils Regional Hospital, shares a similar view. Given that this is an election year, I assume that these allowances will be maintained at the expense of contingency funds.

Meanwhile, a study by three scientists - Jonas Herby, Lars Jonung, and Steve H. Hanke - has appeared on the Johns Hopkins University website, in which the authors assess the effectiveness of various measures to combat Covid-19, based on data from 34 countries. The analysis of this data has led to some shocking results. "We find no evidence that lockdowns, school closures, border closures, and limiting gatherings have had a noticeable effect on COVID-19 mortality," the study concluded. "These measures had little to no effect on Covid-19 mortality rates."

Figures show that lockdowns in Europe and the USA have reduced Covid-19 mortality by an average of only 0.2%(!). So, to get this result the size of a statistical error, it was necessary to keep the world tense for two years and to spend (emit, distribute, not acquire) trillions of US dollars, euros and other currency units? To change the rhythm of life for billions of people and to restrict people's freedoms and rights? To pit them against each other? The authors conclude that not only lockdowns but almost all restrictions have been "ill-founded" and have caused enormous economic and social damage. In other words, curfews, banning the purchase of socks, queuing at shop doors, not allowing passengers on inter-city buses when they are over capacity and other nonsense reduced the Covid-19 mortality rate by 0.2 percent.

Johns Hopkins University is one of the world's leading Covid-19 research centers, with a huge international reputation, and no entries appear on its website without serious scientific expertise. Therefore, the data from this study are absolutely relevant from a scientific point of view. In fairness, however, it should be noted that the article is accompanied by a disclaimer stating that it is the authors' opinion and not that of the university.

But just because the world is slowly emerging from the nightmare of this "great panic," it does not mean that tomorrow at breakfast time things will be back on the same track as they were before the start of 2020. There is still a long post-binge-drinking hangover to come. There is still no shortage of those who would like for the party to continue. Who, for various reasons, have come to love the restrictions imposed by the government and do not want to part with them.

So nothing is over yet, and there is no doubt that the Kariņš/Pavļuts bloc in government will try to keep society divided, segregated and discriminated against for as long as possible. Preferably until the elections, because there is also a large enough crowd of admirers of this segregation in society. Actually, it has always been the majority in all societies, but the appeal of segregation diminishes rapidly when it loses its sense of moral superiority in society. When the privileged classes suddenly become uncomfortable with their privileges. In the meantime, a large number of vaccine fanatics continue to feel a sense of imagined moral superiority, and it is by cultivating this false sense that the segregationists hope to win. But they must remember that imaginary castles built on flimsy foundations always collapse sooner or later.