Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
The Commons vote to delay step four of England’s roadmap out of lockdown has focused attention on when and how the country can draw a line under social distancing and, in the words of the prime minister, “learn to live with the virus”.
While the surge in cases in Blackburn – one of the original Delta variant hotspots – may have peaked for now, Public Health England expects recent rises in the north-west to be mirrored across the UK. What that means for hospitals and lives will become clearer in the next four weeks.
Whatever the epidemic does, the overwhelming view among senior scientists is that coronavirus is here to stay. The cold assessments came from the left and right of Boris Johnson at Monday’s Downing street briefing. From one side, Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, said the virus “will be with us forever”. From the other, Prof Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, warned of Covid illness and deaths “for the rest of our lives.”
But what does it mean to live with coronavirus? Siân Griffiths, emeritus professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who co-chaired the 2003 Sars inquiry for the Hong Kong government, said it called for a new balance between knowing the virus was around and needed to be dealt with, and the knowledge that we needed to get back to a life that was not focused on the virus.
www.theguardian.com
While the surge in cases in Blackburn – one of the original Delta variant hotspots – may have peaked for now, Public Health England expects recent rises in the north-west to be mirrored across the UK. What that means for hospitals and lives will become clearer in the next four weeks.
Whatever the epidemic does, the overwhelming view among senior scientists is that coronavirus is here to stay. The cold assessments came from the left and right of Boris Johnson at Monday’s Downing street briefing. From one side, Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, said the virus “will be with us forever”. From the other, Prof Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, warned of Covid illness and deaths “for the rest of our lives.”
But what does it mean to live with coronavirus? Siân Griffiths, emeritus professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who co-chaired the 2003 Sars inquiry for the Hong Kong government, said it called for a new balance between knowing the virus was around and needed to be dealt with, and the knowledge that we needed to get back to a life that was not focused on the virus.
How do we learn to live with Covid in the UK?
Analysis: Lockdown extension brings questions on when and how UK can draw a line under social distancing
www.theguardian.com