There may be increasing infections but that’s not resulting in lots of deaths o r hospitalisations. It’s the result of the incredible vaccination efforts of the NHS that this new wave is nowhere near as serious or deadly as previous ones. We are still expected to fully open up on 19 July.
Tory Government still a bunch of lying, fornicating, self -serving pieces of crap though. Obvs!!! 
Izzy x
UK covid deaths double those in France yesterday - cases nearly 10x higher.
(More than half UK deaths now among people that have been vaccinated.)
difficult for the UK to defend that statistic Geof. Will Javid bring a bit more troof to the party, do you think?
And how many deaths in total was that? I know every death is a tragedy but some perspective is needed.
Let’s also not forget that France has generally been just behind the UK in the Covid cycle and the Delta variant has arrived there. Maybe compare again in a month or so.!?
Stay safe and stay vigilant everyone. This is not over yet.
Izzy x
But it will be in the UK after 19th July, unless you dare to travel…
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Javid might be the lesser of two evils, but I doubt he will have much impact at this stage.
My guess is that the UK’s problems are mainly the result of poor past decisions - hence they have over the whole pandemic created a vicious combination of both more deaths and more lockdown than we have had here.
The increasing number of cases there now is obviously related to ending their last lockdown - but almost certainly made worse by the failure to act on the delta variant (flights from India, etc), the failure of test and trace, and, probably, their gung-ho approach to using the AZ vaccine, which is less effective than alternatives, compared to the more cautious French approach.
The rate at which they can deliver vaccines is also now much lower than here . Vaccine-scepticism is much lower there, though, so I doubt if France will achieve a higher coverage in the end - though that’s cultural, not down to poor government as in the UK.
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So cases ten times higher in the UK but deaths only double those in France. Looks like the superior vaccination numbers are doing their job then!
Izzy x
Yes, Mark, and that’s the big issue now. It’s not so much whether the UK will allow people to travel it’s whether other countries will accept us. Really hoping to get to France in October but I can’t afford any quarantine time so wondering if that will be possible.
Izzy x
Obviously I’m biased but it’s opening up travel that worries me - the UK might have a largely vaccinated population (though not really enough for protection against the Delta variant) and the EU might be doing well (though 1st vaccinations are slowing in France) but the EU still has only around 30% fully vaccinated and that is not enough to protect against Delta.
The thought of huge numbers of “typical” British tourists carrying Delta across Europe fills me with dread.
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It’s amazing here now Paul - you can book a vaccine appointment literally later the same day, and many centres are now doing ‘walk-in’ days, and it’s open to all adolescents too (despite my reservations, which you know about).
The only explanation, I fear, is that they are already hitting the point of having more capacity than people willing to be vaccinated.
Possibly - still running at ~200k a day (so, a million a week) but it is definitely worrying that it seems to be running out of steam well before the necessary 80% or so of the adult population is fully vaccinated.
I think it fills the EU with dread too.
It is tourist hot spots like Spain who seem willing to take the risk.
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@IzzyM appreciate your efforts at “talking up” the UK position but with matters as they currently stand with a disgraced, discredited and proven liar at the head of Government and at the NHS how can anyone believe anything that comes out of Westminster?
I certainly don’t and there are millions of right thinking people of the same view.
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These are words I think everyone on every Internet forum should be forced to say at the start of every comment. It’s very refreshing to see them!
Sorry, what I meant to say was
Obviously I’m biased but these are words I think everyone on every Internet forum should be forced to say at the start of every comment. It’s very refreshing to see them!
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I think everyone should be biased against being governed proven liars and a PM who has no respect for the rule of law, even though he says he has.
See, another lie.
Don’t forget my bias in this matter is that I want to be able to travel, unfortunately it isn’t possible to limit travel to “sensible people”.
Adams had the right idea with the “B” Ark but I think he got the groups that needed to be on it a bit wrong, especially telephone sanitisers.
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Not really sure what you are saying Graham? Are you not believing the statistics in terms of Covid infections, deaths and hospitalisations as well as vaccine numbers?
I don’t think I’ve ever “talked up” the Tory scumbags. The only reason this current wave is not a total catastrophe is because of the NHS vaccination program - it’s quite clear the current wave is entirely the fault of BJ for not shutting the borders with India soon enough.
As Paul has said, if UK travellers take the Delta variant to France it really could be catastrophic with the lower vaccination levels. Entirely understandable if Europe doesn’t want to let Brits go on holiday there.
Izzy x
That about sums it up, yes. I believe they are worse than HMG see fit to announce and their “economy with the truth” is staggering and manipulative.
Snake Oil salesmen, the lot of them.
Attagirl
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I did…lot quieter than F1, and I think they must have full days worth of Skoda production in the retinue.
The cavalcade was commercial promotion of the first division
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