There are now violent protests in some European countries, including Holland and Austria. UK may not have got everything right, but at least we won't need another lockdown and haven't had complete chaos on the streets.
Still a steady 40,000 new cases every day though. “Not getting everything right” is a strange way of expressing one of the worst death rates per head of population in the world.
UK was always going to be hit hard whatever happened. Our population density is very high and our climate is colder than the likes of France and Spain. The government ****ed up (like most governments did) early on by not shutting borders and locking down early enough.
Looking at the UK from the Netherlands, which, although trying hard in the ****up stakes are well behind England. Gungho handshaking spaffer Johnson allowing Cheltenham, Liverpool v Atletico, the Rugby and other gatherings to go ahead. Borders remained open and test and trace was abandoned. All flying in the face of other countries experiences and advice. That's what made the UK a world leader in the death toll.
The makers of the Astra Zeneca vaccine don’t think the UK will see a massive upsurge in Covid cases, because “of the mess we are already in”. Johnson and his crew are already trying to make out that any changes to the lack of control currently in place, in the UK, will be due to what is happening in Europe, yet most of those countries could double or treble their current Covid count and still be in a better shape than us.
This article suggests we're one of the better countries prepared for the winter, ahead of the majority of European countries. Covid: Can UK avoid a Europe-style return to lockdown? - BBC News But, but, but, I thought Europe had handled covid so much better.
Apparently part of the problem in Germany is a national resistance to the idea of vaccines (and other medicines)....many rely on quack stuff. And Switzerland’s low vaccine rate is mainly down to their German population behaving the same way.
Yes Europe had handled CV-19 better as shown by infection rates and per capita deaths to date. Very good if the number of infections and deaths are kept to a minimum. St Badger's earlier post "The makers of the Astra Zeneca vaccine don’t think the UK will see a massive upsurge in Covid cases, because “of the mess we are already in”. Johnson and his crew are already trying to make out that any changes to the lack of control currently in place, in the UK, will be due to what is happening in Europe, yet most of those countries could double or treble their current Covid count and still be in a better shape than us.
I don't think they will be in better shape TBH. The UK has high immunity now and we had the bad wave of the delta variant earlier in the year when it was warmer. Europe are getting it now at the worst possible time. Our case numbers are still pretty high, but it's stable and deaths and hospitalisations from covid aren't rising either. Cases in Europe are just going to rise and rise, whereas it won't be nearly as bad in the UK.
So they're playing catch up and may reach the UK numbers if the restrictions don't have the required effect. It's not a race no points to be scored. My interest Is in universally low rates so that travel restrictions are minimalised and we can make concrete plans knowing it's as safe as it can be.
My problem is that all my confidence has gone. It was declining anyway because airports aren’t as simple as they used to be...hand over luggage to a human being and you’re in was less stressful than being faced with technology at every turn...and then finding the rules had changed the next time you go. Oh, I coped...I’m not stupid, but don’t really see it as an improvement for the passengers...only the airline. Anyway...off my hobbyhorse ....lockdown has kicked my feet out from under me. Reluctant to even go to the mainland now and can’t see me ever driving there again
Bit by bit Fran as you and yours are more fully protected then you can make the choices about what's good for you. We've been ahead of restrictions, not putting our faith in the authorities or the discipline of fellow citizens and continue to avoid crowds, wear masks and take all sensible precautions. That doesn't mean we're cocooned, still going to bars and restaurants using our corona check app. Family coming over to visit arriving by ferry at Hook of Holland Thursday, they felt the car gave them better distancing than plane or train. It's been a long time very much looking forward to seeing them. Unfortunately, no meat, fish or dairy products are allowed, such a shame the UK didn't stay in the single market and retain freedom of movement.
I don’t understand your “the UK has high immunity” comment. We know that double jabbed people are still catching, and in some cases dying from Covid. We know that the UK daily cases count has been hovering around 40000 for some time. We know that the weekly Covid death toll has been around 1000 people. I don’t think that shows that we have high immunity at all. Immunity from a virus would indicate that we have become resistant to it and we quite clearly have not become resistant to Covid. We are still not managing Covid as well as we could be, simply because of our government’s failure to make mask wearing in buildings, in busy outdoor environments and on public transport mandatory. Even now the SAGE experts are calling for more mask wearing to be implemented because, despite what some may say, it does help in stopping the spread of Covid.
