#handsanitise

Eleven days into 2022 and my anxiety is up and down once more. Decisions being taken by the UK PM and dealing with autism and anxiety around Covid-19, continue to send my mental health into overdrive.

I and many like me, need the UK government to keep the physical procedures in place so that we can stay protected. We may become ‘political guinea pigs,’ with the UK PM set to outline his plans for the UK for us ‘to live with Covid-19.’ I am hoping this pie in the sky decision, will be another u-turn.

For the many people who are high risk and who are already for the most part self-isolating, we may not stay protected if this happens. We, like many others, can still catch Covid and long-covid through meet ups, without the necessary precautionary measures in place.

Two years in and there will be thousands of people who inevitably will be less protected now, unless they continue to vaccinate and already that’s a sticking point with many. Many people were settled on a double-jab and the mandatory booster, but are now beginning to re-think the jabs. For those who are continuing to vaccinate, they will be on their fourth vaccine.

If the papers are to be believed, many of the provisions in place such as LFTs and self-isolation are going to be reduced, or withdrawn, as the country is being told to live with Covid. People like me who rely on lateral flow tests to meet up with family will struggle to successfully do that if the mandatory tests are scrapped.

Although they are still expected to be used in high risk settings such as care homes, hospitals and schools. Cost cutting measures such as these, will affect our physical and mental wellbeing lives in Covid, for those who are no longer eligible. (Source: https://uk.news.yahoo.com).

Even if you’re not high risk, it is going to prove difficult. Any potential chaos of the PM’s decisions, and of the likely human and economic cost if and when restrictions are lifted, may come later with the further rising of Covid cases and people falling foul of the virus and who are not in a position to work. It is difficult to see how what is intended, can be anything but good.

In the meantime, people like me who are high risk, rely on LFTs to keep us safe, so that family are free to come and go without the risk of spreading infection. Not everyone with this test, will know if they are positive for Covid, until they present with symptoms. With the test and trace also having gone by the wayside, LFT’s are our lifeline.

Also, countries who have already relaxed restrictions such as the Netherlands and Israel have reimposed social restrictions again, so we may have more reimposed social restrictions again. (Source: https://www.theguardian.com)

What is happening is a dangerous start to 2022, but each of us have the power to rise above. When it comes to Covid, being mindful is everything. It is important to take control of our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.

I need to think about and look at Covid-19 differently, so that I am more chilled and less anxious about it. For those who are being careful, we need to continue to tell ourselves that our life is now on continual hold until the government stops putting his party before the people; for the government to stop thinking that one size fits all as far as the jabs are concerned. The stats show otherwise.

I know that understanding my life is now permanently on hold, is the first step. Truthfully, I’ve struggled with that, but I know I can’t change the politicians who have made it clear, they’re not willing to keep the precautionary measures in place to keep us safe. But now you have to ask, what kind of government does that?