But April?
Apologies for jumping in here, but I see that Boris has now cancelled his trip to India amid “virus concerns”
Much of the sorry saga of the British government’s shambolic response to the pandemic is about its inept and counter-productive manipulation of public fears. At the start of the year, it for “herd immunity”. Johnson attended the England v Wales rugby match on 7 March and allowed the Cheltenham Festival attended by 250,000 people go ahead three days later.
On March 11, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jenny Harries insisted the U.K. government was “following the science” by not banning mass gatherings. She also said wearing a face mask is “usually quite a bad idea” and “doesn’t help.”
March 23: 10 days later, with the virus surging, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the first national lockdown.
March 26: Harries said testing and contact tracing was no longer an “appropriate mechanism as we go forward,” arguing that the World Health Organization’s call to “test, test, test” was aimed at less-developed nations.
Worst of all was:
Moving patients from hospitals to care homes
On 19 March, NHS guidance said that “unless required to be in hospital, patients must not remain in an NHS bed”.
On 2 April, the rules on discharging to care homes were clarified, saying “negative [coronavirus] tests are not required prior to transfers/admissions into the care home”.
Even elderly patients who tested positive could be admitted to care homes, according to the document, if measures - such as wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) and isolation - were used.
From 15 April, the government said that all patients discharged from hospitals would be tested for coronavirus.
By this date, over 28,116 elderly patients had been moved from hospitals to care homes in England but there are no statistics to show how many cases of coronavirus were transmitted this way.
The result was:
There were just over 66,000 deaths of care home residents in England and Wales between 2 March and 12 June this year, compared to just under 37,000 deaths last year *.
Covid-19 was the leading cause of death for male care home residents, accounting for a third of all deaths, and the second most-common cause of death for female residents, after dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
- I make that a 29,000 (80%) increase (excess mortality)
Those are just some reasons for the April “surge” … :shock:
The January “surge” actually started in July:
July 8: With infections well down in the summer, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced his “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme encouraging Britons to flock to restaurants to help the economy bounce back.
August 14: Sunak urged people to go back to offices, cafes and pubs.
August 27: Government sources briefed the Telegraph that people should “go back to work or risk losing your job.”
September 21: As infections rose again, SAGE urged Johnson to impose a short “circuit-breaker” lockdown. The PM rejected the advice, splitting from his scientific advisers for the first time.
October 12: With cases still rising, Johnson implemented a new “three-tier” system of restrictions, which still fell short of what his experts were calling for.
October 13: Labour leader Keir Starmer called for a circuit-breaker lockdown.
October 31: As the virus threatened to spiral out of control, the PM imposed a four-week lockdown for the month of November, six weeks after SAGE called for the circuit-breaker.
December 2: Lockdown was lifted and England went into a new four-tier system of restrictions.
December 16: Johnson insisted Christmas wouldn’t be canceled and that restrictions would be relaxed for five days over the festive period. Hancock announced a new coronavirus variant had been identified in the U.K.
December 19: Johnson canceled Christmas and scrapped the relaxation plan.
December 22: SAGE advised ministers to call another lockdown.
January 4, 2021: 13 days later, Johnson (belatedly, as ever) announced a third national lockdown.
Additional
January 27: The government announced a new hotel quarantine system to toughen up the borders, nine months after SAGE rejected border controls.
Again, just some of the inept decision-making by BJ … :!:
Full reports on the Tory litany of misjudgements, errors, incompetency and corruption are due out late spring/early summer.
Getting quite complicated, isn’t it?
Perhaps Boris should just stop changing his mind, shut up, and let things even themselves out naturally.
If covidiots want to collect together and spread the virus among themselves, leave them to it.
The rest of us, just keep away from young idiots, especially third-rate universities!
Indeed … let’s hope that lessons have been learned … 
Of course what you really mean is that you can’t handle the facts you don’t like.
Just say so and make life easier for yourself.
Or at least prove the ONS wrong if you can.
Sensible IMHO.
Wait until the trip deparure date draws near and examine the evidence before deciding whether or not to go.
Isn’t that what many billions of travelers do for a whole host of reasons; make sure it’s safe before travelling?
No … what I really mean is that your post is inadequately supported and you are blustering to cover up its’ deficiencies … 
What part of Oxford University … ?
What ONS report … ?
Read the report Omah and if you’re not happy do what I asked you earlier: ask The Telegraph yourself.
Do not blame others for your own self-imposed restrictions to access to data or to seek answers from the correct places.
You seem to manage well enough finding everything else, so look for it yourself and do not blame others for your own inadequacies and failures.
Again the link to The Telegraph which as I said was for those that have access is here.
It seems your comprehension isn’t up to much if you can’t understand and comply with that.
The Telegraph and our own ONS are only “inadequate” because you don’t like what they are saying.
Only because you don’t like their content.
Then why quibble about a post which is mainly reviewing data they supply?
Then you should have heeded my advice in my OP containing their report and not made yourself look so foolish.
Look at it again.
Post #53
“Those that have access to The Telegraph can read the full report here”
Even though you ignored that, I told you how you could get your questions answered.
You have refused that advice too.
The simple answer for you if you’re not prepared to do what is suggested is to not to respond.
Not instead be determined to quibble over what you can’t read because of your own self-imposed restrictions.
Again:
Now stop prevaricating, man up and write to The Telegraph if you want your questions answered.
Accept that they are your questions, not mine and are directed towards a publisher which I warned you not everybody would be able to read.
I am not going to answer them for you.
Your “laurels” have turned out to be a bed of nettles.
Are you trolling again JBR?
I don’t feed trolls & that’s why you didn’t get the answers you wanted - and that is why you’re posting off-topic posts like this to get a reaction from me.
In other words: trolling.
Cease and desist.
You should know better by now.
These figures are incorrect Omah, vastly overstated…
Not like you to make such a major error…:shock:
Please supply the correct figures with your sources and links … and then I will provide my sources and links … 
I don’t think JB was referring to you Zaphod…
Who? :surprised:
Apologies JB…
OK, I’ll go first:
Coronavirus: Almost 30,000 ‘excess’ care homes deaths
Published 3 July 2020
Almost 30,000 more care home residents in England and Wales died during the coronavirus outbreak than during the same period in 2019, ONS figures show.
But only two-thirds were directly attributable to Covid-19.
The Office for National Statistics figures are the first to reveal the full toll on care homes, including deaths that happened in hospital.
Care homes in England will carry out routine testing from Monday.
There were just over 66,000 deaths of care home residents in England and Wales between 2 March and 12 June this year, compared to just under 37,000 deaths last year.
Covid-19 was the leading cause of death for male care home residents, accounting for a third of all deaths, and the second most-common cause of death for female residents, after dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
See also: