Not a terribly productive day today but some days are just like that. I’ve got itchy feet at the moment – I’m eager to go beyond my ‘within walking distance’ confines of southeast London. But I suspect it won’t be any time soon. I’m avoiding public transport as it’s not a necessity.
And on the news…
A further 55 deaths bringing the total 40,597. This is the lowest figure since 21 March – pre-lockdown. I’m a little confused given we know that 59 people died in England…
A further 1,205 positive cases, again the lowest since lockdown began though it’s important to note that 77 days ago testing was extremely limited and largely reserved for those ill enough to require hospitalisation.
Thankfully we’re seeing a drop in the number of deaths related to Covid-19 in care homes. The next step will be to get day to day health services back to normal.
I’m not sure, given all the caveats with testing and the data throughout this whole nightmare that I’ve flagged in many of these posts, how much credence we can give to the phrase ‘since lockdown began’.
In terms of public opinion, the government is not doing well. According to a YouGov survey, only 41% of Britons say the government is managing the outbreak well, versus 56% who say it is mishandling it. The UK now has the lowest joint ranking, alongside Mexico, of how they’ve handled the pandemic.
The real challenge will be in managing further waves of Covid-19 though I’m not clear on what constitutes the ending of the first wave. And the challenge here will be getting people to listen to government advice – public confidence is key and that’s currently in short supply. And losing public confidence will mean further losses of life.
It doesn’t help that, yet again, we have no idea how many people have been tested. There have been circa 5.7 million tests, but many people may have been tested on numerous occasions.
From 22 June in England, some pubs with beer gardens may be able to open. Thinking of the pubs near me, it may mean few of them could potentially have about 20 people. I’d imagine it will be more of a psychological boost than a financial one. I just hope folks remember those pub owners who treated staff well, and those that didn’t such as Tim Martin, JD Weatherspoon’s founder.
And I do despair. Today Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care today updated MPs in parliament. He mentioned that work is underway to give local authorities and GPs access to the data they need to track the virus spread. I remain unclear as to why this wasn’t done months ago.
I made the mistake of watching part of the (now) weekday briefing. Now I’m a little grumpy about all of this.
Time to chill and ignore the news for the rest of the day.
So that’s it for Day 77. Stay safe, stay well, and stay home (unless you’re protesting in which case I’ll leave it at Stay Safe, Stay Well!)