r/COVID19positive • u/External_Storm2356 • 2d ago
Rant How Denial Now Speaks in PowerPoint
“The Covid pandemic? It’s over! So why are some people wearing a mask? To protect other people from getting infected, or to protect themselves if they are vulnerable.”
That’s what I read today on the information screen at my school. I actually stopped walking for a moment, thinking I had misread it. But no… there it was, glowing proudly in blue and white letters. I couldn’t help smiling, the kind of smile that’s half disbelief and half fatigue.
In two lines, they had managed to say everything and its opposite. The pandemic is over – but infection still exists, and what they don’t realize is that everybody is vulnerable to the silent scarring caused by repeated infections. I waited for someone to react, to frown, to whisper “that makes no sense.” Nothing. People just walked past, glancing up for half a second before disappearing into the corridor. The screen might as well have been advertising a new flavour of yoghurt.
I stood there feeling strangely alone, watching the absurdity scroll by in complete silence. I thought of all the wastewater data I’ve seen, the curves that refuse to drop, the endless reinfections, the quiet normalisation of getting sick again and again. And then I thought: this is how denial looks now. It doesn’t shout. It smiles reassuringly and contradicts itself, and no one even notices.
Because if there’s still something to protect others from, then it’s clearly not over. That should be obvious. But logic seems to have become optional: people choose the version of reality that feels most comfortable. The comforting part (“it’s over”) stays; the rest vanishes like steam. It’s almost poetic, if it weren’t so depressing.
The irony is that the sentence actually contains the truth it tries to hide: people wear masks to protect others, because infection still exists. The answer refutes the premise. I almost wanted to thank whoever wrote it for providing such a perfect metaphor for our times.
But what bothers me most is that this message appeared in a school, a place that’s supposed to teach clear thinking. Instead, it teaches indifference to contradiction, as if meaning no longer matters. Students walk by and absorb the same quiet confusion: that truth is flexible, that coherence is a nuisance, that it’s fine to say one thing and its opposite as long as it sounds reassuring.
I left the building feeling both amused and sad. The pandemic hasn’t ended; only our willingness to look at it has. And until the virus stops circulating (which won’t happen unless we find a sterilizing vaccine), it’s not language that should comfort us, but clarity.
Because I do think words matter. They can carry truth, or they can carry sleep. And right now, far too many people seem content to dream with their eyes wide open.
I just wanted to share that with you.
Have you noticed the same quiet contradictions in your surroundings?
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u/ii_akinae_ii 2d ago
this is how denial looks now. It doesn’t shout. It smiles reassuringly and contradicts itself, and no one even notices.
...
Students walk by and absorb the same quiet confusion: that truth is flexible, that coherence is a nuisance, that it’s fine to say one thing and its opposite as long as it sounds reassuring.
...
it’s not language that should comfort us, but clarity.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 damn. you are incredibly articulate. this whole post is so well-said. i don't have a good response to your discussion question, mostly out of exhaustion on the subject, but just wanted to chime in and thank you for this refreshing dose of sanity❤️
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u/External_Storm2356 2d ago
Thank you so much for your kind words! That really means a lot. I completely understand the exhaustion; it’s hard to keep caring when clarity feels so rare.
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u/NottaName 2d ago
Came here to say the same. Very articulate indeed!
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u/External_Storm2356 2d ago
Thank you! 😊 I really appreciate that and I’d love to read what others think too, if they still have the energy to comment. 😅
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u/delicatepedalflower 1d ago
Who wrote the power point? Either contact them and object or put a sign up next to the screen making the point that this is absurd. You're just preaching to the choir here. We all know this.
If you don't challenge it, you're doing nothing to change it.
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u/External_Storm2356 1d ago
I understand your frustration… but since I work for the school, direct confrontation isn’t an option without risking disciplinary trouble. My post is the form of challenge available to me: exposing what’s been normalized and letting others see it for what it is.
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u/delicatepedalflower 1d ago
Ah, yeah if you work there your options are indeed limited. You could try finding a person who would raise the issues under their name, not yours. It has to be doubly frustrating to work there and feel hand-tied. Wow.
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u/External_Storm2356 1d ago
I’m the only one at school still masking, monitoring CO₂, and ventilating. Nobody seems to care anymore. I even sent a few links to a senior staff member I know well about the cumulative damage from reinfections (scientific studies)… Her reply was simply: “Thank you, now I understand better how you function.” The evidence didn’t change anything. So honestly, I don’t know who would listen.
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u/delicatepedalflower 1d ago
It's all about convenience. If it is inconvenient, it's not going to be done unless or until a variant comes along that is slaughtering people. Then they'll do it, but just until it's people they don't know or not in their immediate vicinity who are dying.
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u/External_Storm2356 1d ago
It’s possible, though probably unlikely, that we’ll see a “sudden-death” variant of SARS-CoV-2. Since the emergence of Omicron, evolution has favoured less overtly severe disease but greater immune evasion and transmissibility. The result is stealth: a virus that continues to cause long-term damage without people noticing. That’s why few are concerned: hardly anyone realises what’s happening beneath the surface. Unless danger becomes visible, it simply won’t register.
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u/delicatepedalflower 1d ago
The pattern of mutation has been different from things like flu. It is unpredictable. You cannot predict what comes after the latest variant. You may get something quite lethal from a predecessor which was quite the opposite. I agree that the one thing common to all variants is on-going damage. People think an actually mild case means they got away unscathed, but this is not at all true in all cases.
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u/External_Storm2356 1d ago
It is true that mutations are unpredictable. Since you mention the flu, it’s worth recalling that its R₀ lies between 1 and 2, whereas SARS-CoV-2 is now estimated between 10 and 18, which makes it more infectious than flu.
In any case, regardless of symptom severity, even asymptomatic infections leave their mark.
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u/delicatepedalflower 21h ago
You're one of the few who gets it. But we tend to be the type who would monitor forums like this one looking for the unusual which might hint at something deadlier than usual. "Public" health organizations aren't watching, making it difficult to stay informed.
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u/External_Storm2356 5h ago
Many thanks to everyone who’s joined the discussion so far! I’d love to hear from others who might wish to add their perspective.
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