I think it’s pretty obvious where the infections come from, especially as ‘they’ arrive every day now and, worse, they are ably assisted by our so-called Border Force.
Boris announcing that it’s going to ‘wash up’ on our shores shows he has a bloody nerve. He should be preventing them, not encouraging them.
[SIZE=“4”]Patients hospitalised with coronavirus falls to lowest level since September[/SIZE]
“Matt Hancock tweeted to say that the figure stands at under 2,000, while also celebrating the figures of the ongoing vaccine rollout.”
“It comes after a study found that just 32 of the UK’s 74,405 coronavirus patients admitted to hospital between last September and this March had been vaccinated before they were admitted.”
Mask-free summer on the cards, as vaccines take control of the pandemic, say experts
Step four of the government’s road map for England currently states all legal limits on social contact will be removed by 21 June at the earliest, when restrictions on large events such as festivals are also expected to ease.
Scientists advising the government say there is nothing currently in the data to suggest people will not be able to enjoy a relatively normal summer, though coronavirus cases may well rise as the autumn approaches.
Nevertheless, the general view among scientific advisers is the spike in cases in winter will be lower than in the past, due to high levels of immunity and vaccination.
The optimistic view …
The pessimistic view:
Boris Johnson warns of new Covid-19 surge this winter bringing more deaths
Mr Johnson said there is “a high likelihood of a surge this winter when the weather assists the transmission of all respiratory diseases and when the pressure on our NHS is most acute.”
On the persistent threat of new variants, he added: "Should these prove highly transmissible and elude the protection of our vaccines, they would have the potential to cause even greater suffering than we endured in January.
Well, he’s been wrong about the “Third Wave” (so far) … 
Hi
There are significant variations in the rates of infection in some parts of the UK.
Long Haul Flights to some countries may well cause a problem.
Well we can always rely on the good-old boat people.
I’ve lost track - which wave are we in?
I went to the hairdresser the other day (yay - blondie returns!). I don’t seem to be sick yet. The chap washing my hair strongly believed there would be a third wave. He was totally depressed compared to before covid. So I was there saying you’re wrong, we will be fine. Either people are vaccinated or they have already had covid. I’m positive that any third wave will be a gentle one and not a tsunami.
I agree. I think we’ve seen the worst.
Yes the balance of risk has changed IMO. I just cannot understand the logic of the other point of view. Sometimes I think some people would like this to go on forever though. Perhaps people feel safer or happier hiding.
JBR what is Marge’s view?
Regarding the future? The same as mine, basically.
Incidentally, her second vaccination is due in four weeks, but then she is nine years younger than me.
Next steps considered amid India variant concern
Local and regional restrictions to tackle the Indian Covid variant cannot be ruled out, the government has said, as it expressed concern over the speed of the variant’s spread in England. It said “economic and social” restrictions could be reimposed in parts of England if necessary.
Public Health England has recorded 1,313 UK cases of the Indian variant. The figures released on Thursday are more than double the 520 cases recorded by PHE up to 5 May.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government was supporting areas where cases were rising and urged people to “continue to be vigilant”.
“We are monitoring the situation very carefully and will not hesitate to take further action if necessary,” he said.
Earlier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not rule out reintroducing regional restrictions, saying: “It is a variant of concern, we are anxious about it.” But he added there was no evidence to suggest England’s planned lockdown easing could not go ahead. The next major easing of restrictions is due to take place on 17 May.
On Thursday, the UK reported another 11 deaths within 28 days of a positive test and a further 2,657 coronavirus cases.
Cases of the Indian variant in the UK have been recorded in London, Bolton, Tyneside and Nottingham.
PHE said mobile testing units had been set up in Bolton, and door-to-door PCR testing had been offered to 22,000 residents.
A vaccine bus has been set up in the town to increase uptake among those who are eligible for vaccinations and a rapid response team of 100 nurses, public health advisers and environmental health officers has been sent in.
Extra clinics will open in Blackburn and Darwen in Lancashire from next week to offer the vaccine to those who are eligible under national guidelines.
Surge testing has also been deployed in Sefton, Merseyside, after cases of the Indian variant were confirmed in the Formby area, with anyone over 16 who lives, works or studies in the area urged to take a PCR test.
Prof Robert Dingwall, a scientist on the government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), said it seemed people who had been vaccinated “have only a very low risk of infection” from the Indian variant - and infection was “likely to be mild”.
The India variant case rate is rising exponentially and the total case rate has been “static” at around 2,500 for weeks - releasing lockdown, even partially, may yet produce an unwanted surge … :shock:
The evidence from India is that although the (AZ) vaccine doesn’t protect against infection, it does protect against severe illness and death.
This explains the reported proposals to surge vaccinate all over 16s in areas of the UK affected.
Because we have such a strong vaccination programme I cannot see us going back to the same lockdown situation we have seen particularly for those already vaccinated. There must be a silver lining to all these side effects some of us have been suffering. At the moment the people I see shielding, wearing masks in the street and crossing the road are younger.
Hi
Boris to make an announcement this evening.
Let me guess.
He’s going to go back on his promise of ending lockdown!
He does that.
He promised to take us out of the EU and trade with the world under WTO rules.
He promised to ensure that our country - all of it and its waters - would escape from EU rule and become a sovereign state once again.
And I was daft enough to believe him!
India variant: Why was India not put on the red list sooner?
India was added to the red list on 23 April, but neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh have both been on it since 9 April.
Bangladesh had the South Africa but not the Brazil variant and Pakistan had neither when they were added to the red list on 9 April.
India had both, as well as a new variant, but was not added for another two weeks.
On 9 April:
[LIST]
[]Pakistan had a seven-day average of 21 cases per million people
[]Bangladesh had twice as many
[*]India had four times as many
[/LIST]
In late March, India’s health authority said 771 variants of concern had been detected in a sample of almost 11,000 positive cases - a fraction of the millions of cases recorded in the country.
This is, patently, another BJ cock-up. During the pandemic, he has persistently delayed the implementation of travelling restrictions with dire results.
Why he allowed thousands of (potentially-infected) people to enter (a recovering) Britain from India is, I would suggest, beyond the understanding of the millions of citizens who have, hitherto, complied with the government’s (changeable) pandemic restrictions … :shock:
Trade deals. Remember he was heading over there recently then decided against it. :roll:
Indian variant could disrupt 21 June easing, PM says
Speaking at a Downing Street briefing alongside the UK’s chief medical adviser, Prof Chris Whitty, Mr Johnson said he did not believe that the “present evidence” showed a need to delay the next stage in the easing of lockdown in England on Monday - which is when people can meet in groups of up to 30 outdoors and six people or two households can meet indoors.
But Mr Johnson warned:
Will BJ “do a Harding” and claim that no-one could have foreseen the arrival of a virulent variant … :roll:
There’s always money behind BJ’s decisions, isn’t there … :roll:
Oh more than likely…I mean, India have only been suffering harshly with it for the last 6 months or so…and flocks of people have been coming back and forth from India, so clearly there would be no correlation! :roll:
