A poll for The Times newspaper claims that nearly half of Britons have cut back on socialising to avoid being pinged by the NHS Covid app and being instructed to go home and self-isolate.
In the poll which was carried out by YouGov, 46 per cent of respondents said that they had reduced contact with others to avoid being pinged. According to The Times:
The findings suggest that government policy, while enormously disruptive, is having the desired effect. Until August 16, even those who are double-vaccinated are told to stay at home after contact with a positive case.
The vast majority of those surveyed, on July 29 and 30, suggested they were sticking to rules and advice, with 10 per cent saying they had deleted the app from their phones and 13 per cent saying they had switched off its contact tracing function.
Seven per cent said they had avoided getting a coronavirus test to avoid being told to isolate.
The pingdemic is proving to be devastating for British businesses. Recruitment firm Adzuna claims that vacancies have topped 1 million for several months. There are more than 10,000 supermarket vacancies and nearly 80,000 roles in hospitality that need to be filled.
Millions of perfectly healthy, asymptomatic workers have been told to go home and isolate. It’s total chaos.
Out of chaos comes order and the opportunity to build back better. Isn’t that what the World Economic Forum said about covid? It said that the pandemic will make it possible to re-make the world through a great reset.
Will life ever return to the way it was in December 2019? It doesn’t look like it. If their aim was to use the threat of covid to significantly transform human behaviour, they’ve succeeded and then some.
On Friday, I walked through the doors of my local supermarket for the first time this year. Last December I had a nasty encounter with a shopper who took exception to my not wearing a face covering. I came very close to hitting him. As a result of that, I stayed away.
Nothing has changed. Every customer I passed was wearing a mask. A few of them looked at me contemptuously. One old man muttered something. I muttered back “mind your own business.” How very depressing. I think I’ll go back to ordering online, which is ultimately what they want. Brave new world indeed.