UK Detectorists: Who'd Have Suspected, eh?

Paul Howard's FB profile picture now

A few hours ago I discussed (post above) the sob-story from the commercial pay-to-dig artefact stripping rally organiser that their profits were down due to the rapidity of spread of the Coronavirus as people move about Britain, and the decisions taken by the government to try and curb it. They announced that - nine months into the pandemic - they were having to suspend their activities. Some of the replies are pretty revealing. It turns out that Paul Howard and his customers are thick covid deniers. What a surprise. Paul Howard is moaning that he's had to suspend his "business" charging folk a lot of money to randomly strip areas of the archaeological record of diagnostic finds:

For a virus that’s killed around 900 people in U.K. that never had any underlying health issues,
For a virus that most people don’t see,
For a virus that is so bad every death since March is signed off as covid,
For a virus that’s that bad most people know nothing about that’s apparently bad everywher,
Problem is those who don’t believe are bombarded by people who know someone who died and was put down as covid saying how dare we, They know someone, we all know people who have died in recent months and all put down as covid, FACT is what happened to people dying of cancer and heart attacks and strokes? What happened they cured it

That text does not make a lot of sense (see below) and I'm not going to discuss it. Note the attitude that the experts have got it wrong and Mr Howard and his "common sense" knows more about this from the internet and tabloids than any epidemologist in Britain, and that any attempt to convince a bereaved person that their departed did not die as a result of Covid infection fails only because of "political correctness". But it goes on... Mr Howard then asserts that he has visited a hospital (how? In the UK, are they letting people just wander in from the street? If so, no wonder the infection's spreading so fast): "that’s what woke me up, Shocking empty, seen lots of things

("seen lots of things"? Eh?). Mr Howard then goes on about a video he's seen from Gloucestershire showing an empty hospital (not wanting to destroy the allure of a conspiracy theory, he did not bother to check what the explanation of that is, and again are they just letting people wander into the wards from the street? How utterly unprofessional!). He mentions another video of ambulances having a break in Kent as evidence that covid is a hoax. He adds:

Paul Lgd Howard
And as I see thousands of people on our events since March Not one request by government for track and trace as no one tested positive, my group and members on my events tells me more than most people, I see you all and most of you do not believe in this virus that’s a fact (most of you) and most of you tell me and joe your areas are as they was, nothing or no one infected

So, it's all a conspiracy then, innit? And most metal detectorists don't belive there is a virus. Ryan Tweed also reckons: "Something fishy about it that's for sure [...] Boycott the media and the government and it will go away". Member Celtic John wants to "put the Great back in Great Britain", is a New World Order conspiracy believer and is hopeful this will all be exposed soon:

Paul and Jo, sorry to hear that theyve done it again we know what they doing all this for there NWO. Hang in there mate till the SHTF.