Risks in the community
Jun. 27th, 2021 12:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ruthct21I finally did a Covid test (because the Delta variant has been rising lately where I live) and it was negative. I realise that I have been managing my risks largely by avoiding going anywhere and I am really angry that I now have to attend Council meetings at the Town Hall (suitable masked and sanitised) because the Government has refuse to renew permission for Zoom meetings in England (they are legal in Scotland and Wales).
We have now asked the Government to allow hybrid meetings because the average Councillor is over 60, in a more vulnerable age-group, and many of them are managing their risks by avoiding direct contact with people. Cold weather, old age, regular illnesses such as colds or flu plus the general fear factor in the community are all likely to bring attendance in person way down, both for Councillors and for the local people who have attended meetings in the past. (They continued to attend our local Council meetings via Zoom throughout lockdown but no-one has come to any of the meetings-in-person.)
Democracy in this country is already in a mess. If it grinds to a halt at grass-roots level, will that make things worse or will it motivate people to do something about it?
We have now asked the Government to allow hybrid meetings because the average Councillor is over 60, in a more vulnerable age-group, and many of them are managing their risks by avoiding direct contact with people. Cold weather, old age, regular illnesses such as colds or flu plus the general fear factor in the community are all likely to bring attendance in person way down, both for Councillors and for the local people who have attended meetings in the past. (They continued to attend our local Council meetings via Zoom throughout lockdown but no-one has come to any of the meetings-in-person.)
Democracy in this country is already in a mess. If it grinds to a halt at grass-roots level, will that make things worse or will it motivate people to do something about it?
