I’m at the stage of lockdown I’m too exhausted to be furious. I’m sleeping well but I do keep waking up at around 5.30am. I’m not really an early morning person. At least I’m not having the strange dreams that lots of other people seem to be having.
I dare not track the amount of time I spend daily shaking my head at the horror show of the government response to Covid-19. Here I’m referring to national policy approaches, particularly those in England.
As of today, another 204 deaths in the UK, bringing the total to 40,465. These figures only account for deaths where Covid-19 has been confirmed. The real figures are higher. Data on the number of people tested is again unavailable.
No government briefing today. Weekend briefings have been cancelled. They weren’t getting the viewing numbers…
It looks like across mainland Europe, borders will open again from 15 June. In the UK, quarantine for those entering the country is only just being introduced. There are many exemptions to the quarantine requirements.
Government has just released details of its big tech contracts. These were released hours before openDemocracy were going to sue government for access. You can find them on the openDemocracy website here. It’s worth reading the article, and looking at the docs, to understand some what is so worrying, particularly with the companies Faculty and Palantir. There’s good reason to be concerned.
While some schools have opened for some classes in England, others have been advised by health officials to delay reopening. Easing of lockdown is not fit for purpose with rates of infection in the Northwest hovering around 1 (if not slightly above) – so for each person infected, they on average infect one other person.
Protests at the murder of George Floyd in the US continue across the globe. I fully support the protests, there’s no question there. But I am concerned about the risk of protests in the midst of a global pandemic. More people will become ill. More people will die.
Basic public health comms continues to be lacking. There seems to be an emerging trend of many wearing masks not also realising the need to socially distance. Doing one of these is insufficient, especially with sustained contact. On more general comms, a lot of work is happening at local levels with some local councillors and MPs tailoring messaging to the needs of their local populations. I understand that one of SAGE groups has recommended better tailored comms. This hasn’t been taken up by government.
Generally in this blog I rant about the bad stuff. But to add though there’s lots of good stuff happening in response to Covid-19 at local levels, by local health and care services, public health leads, local authorities, and charities.
And in terms of my day, sadly I saw no alpacas. I think they were moved into a different pen at the Horniman Museum gardens. And I was out early enough, and the weather was grim enough, to not have to worry about lots of people. The joys of the social distancing shuffle.
So that’s it for Day 75. Stay safe, stay well, and stay home (unless you’re protesting in which case I’ll leave it at Stay Safe, Stay Well!)