I remain confused. Yep, I’ve been confused a lot over the last few months in trying to keep track of the twists and turns of government policy and messaging. Perhaps it’s because I have a slightly grumpy lower back today. At least it’s been more productive than most of last week.
Government is currently reviewing the 2m rule for social distancing. Reducing the distance will have a positive benefit for the economy (subject to lots of people not getting ill etc). But we’re also following the evidence and the science. So which is it? Is this a political decision, or an evidence based decision?
The UK’s SAGE Committee has already said that reducing from 2 to 1 metre effectively doubles the risk of infection. So if your risk of infection is incredibly low, I get it. But we still seem to be hovering at an infection rate of just under 1. I’m not a scientist but logic suggests that doubling the risk for potential infection with that sort of current infection rate might not be a sensible approach. Hmmm…
One MP asked: if the R value is reducing, why do we need any social distancing? OK, add a bit of being astounded here.
Non-essential shops opened today in England. Long queues for Primark. Some turning up overnight to queue. Crowded streets. I’m presuming many will have needed to use public transport. Shops will have put systems in place to manage ‘traffic flow’. Let’s just hope people going shopping today are better at following arrows on the floor than they are in supermarkets. I’m not a fan of shopping.
A further 38 deaths. The total now stands at 41,736. While there are figures on the number of tests conducted, still no figures on the number of people tested.
I spoke to a friend in Australia today. They refer to a spike in cases as being about 10 new infections. Oh dear…here it’s more likely to refer to a few thousand.
Meals vouchers for children that were put in place for those children in receipt of free school meals will not be provided over the summer holiday period. They’re worth £15 a week per child. Many parents are under huge financial stress. Many will have lost jobs, many will have been furloughed meaning a 20% cut in pay.
My dilemmas are much more mundane. When will I be able to get a haircut? When will I be able to travel back to Australia? And it might seem pithy but when will public toilets be opened meaning I can walk for hours and hours and hours? It’s all a wait and see at the moment.
So that’s it for Day 84. Stay safe, stay well, and stay home!
The public toilets thing is huge, though. It’s the limitation to me getting to lots of places! I am OK with the hair and don’t have any family, but I would like to see my best friend in London one day (she could drive to see me if there were public toilets, of course).
Yep, a huge issue. A few hours is fine but… and really problematic for so many people. Prior to all of this, there were already significant problems with the closing of lots of public toilets. The challenge will be how do you re-open them safely….