So - in summary:

The original goal of lockdown was to stop the NHS being overwhelmed. Ironically the NHS now faces being overwhelmed by the backlog and damaged caused by lockdown.
So where do we go now? Even if the increase in infections leads to more hospital admissions do we lockdown again and overwhelm the NHS in the long term or leave it and risk short term? A lot of the damage has already been done now and many are done for either way.
Hopefully the numbes on hospital admissions and deaths will continue to go down so we don't have to find out.

 

The vast majority will come back but they’ve had to refinance in a lot of cases and take on a hell of a lot of debt. Prices will increase significantly over the next few years particularly in the travel sector, alongside massive inflation generally.

time to buy some Bitcoin.

 

Can't imagine the numbers in the travel sector, obviously demand still exists so it will bounce back in some in form.

 

How many respiratory diseases have we eradicated? Comparable diseases in terms of how the virus is spread. Diseases by which we could judge how successful we might be in eradicating this one? Diseases such as the other corona viruses that affect humans or influenza or the common cold. How many of those have we all but eradicated?

 

You have to be extremely careful when using statistics not to reach a conclusion that is entirely erroneous.

7.19% isn't the proportion of people in that age bracket who have died from Covid. It's the proportion of people who have died from Covid who are in that age bracket. You therefore can't extrapolate anything.

 

What I think should remain can hardly be called lockdown.

 

The Times reports that the government view is that there is no evidence to support a delay to the final stages of reopening on June 21. That is despite the fact that Covid infections have surged by 76% in a week.

 

So have colds. Do we lockdown for people who get the sniffles? Hospitalisations and deaths are the figures that matter not how many people get something with no idea they've got it.

 

I personally know around 70 businesses who attempted to reopen under restrictions in may who have now chosen to close again as the restrictions made them unviable.

 

The best case scenario model produced by SAGE as to how the road map is to progress shows that England is currently performing better than their predictions (whod have thought)

Case and hospitalisations in Bolton have peaked, Blackburn isnt so far behind. As are other areas deemed at risk from this latest variant.

Warm weather. Itll improve drastically. bear in mind these cases the vast majority will relate to "exit waves" from May 17th when people were allowed to socialise again...

It is time that we moved on from the monumental failures of lockdowns and started entrusting people with their own personal responsibility again.

 

completely agree you have to be careful, but it is a demonstration that people are dieing in that age band, robust data would be useful, hence why I didn’t extrapolate to an actual figure, just outlined the numbers could be very significant.

 

Thing is Loko, people want to go out to the pub, drink beer, socialise, chat ****.

They dont want to do it under the current restrictions.

Wear a mask to go to your table. Sterile atmosphere caused by table service and being seated in half empty pubs scared of letting your hair down cos Covids.. Wear a mask when you need a piss...

 

I think that's the point the Times report is making.

 

No football
No nightclubs
No concerts
No holidays

This is still lockdown.

And another 6 months of this rubbish is so depressing I cant comprehend

 

The language and tone used in this thread paints the opposite pictur

 

Not a fair cop on this occasion, Loko! The words were the Times', not mine:

Covid infections surge by three quarters in a week
Fastest rise since September but government insists big reopening is on course

updated
Kat Lay, Health Editor | Oliver Wright, Policy Editor | Charlotte Wace | Ademola Bello
Saturday June 05 2021, 12.01pm
Coronavirus cases have surged by 76 per cent in a week but the government insisted last night that there was still no evidence to support a delay to the final stages of reopening on June 21.

Infections are rising more quickly than at any time since September but No 10 said that the data remained “as expected”.


The original version contained the word 'despite', but as you can see it was updated at 12.01pm. If anything, the quotes I lifted support your (and others') observation that hospitalisations and deaths are the more relevant figure at this stage.

 

Hospital numbers way lower than the best case scenario SAGE gave in their guessing. Multiple vaccines breaking the chain. Over 25s being called up next week. Over 40s having their second jabs moved closer. Cases don't matter anymore. The only thing overwhelming the NHS is the five million people waiting to see them.