Coronavirus

[Muddy Retriever]

I take your point but the current position of keeping your distance, wearing masks with remote working where possible is sort of working. Shops are opening, pubs, restaurants and gyms and whatnot. Theres even been a covid secure fell face. With the authorities able to apply the brakes every now and then - local tighter temporary lockdowns as and when required.

Experimenting with the alternative (and using the population as guinea pigs in that experiment) could lead to getting on for 500,000 deaths! I doubt even Boris could get the electorate to forget that by the next election

If it did get to 500,000 then I imagine you would be right. This was the prediction of professor Neil Ferguson. But his model also predicted 40,000 deaths by the start of the May for Sweden (which didn't lockdown) and 96,000 by the start of June. I think their actual death figures currently stand at 5,766.

However, I agree on the need to act reasonably cautiously. I don't think we can just open it all up immediately to pre-virus levels as it will make it impossible to protect the vulnerable.

I think the local lockdowns are a blunt instrument at the moment. Instead of whole districts, it would be better if they could narrow it down to to the actual areas where the clusters are. I suspect that leafy Ilkley and Menston do not have the rates of the worst affected parts of Bradford.