Two Years On

It was 2 years ago today that Boris gave a briefing with the CMO and CSA to tell us to avoid all unnecessary social contact, to work from home and that the most vulnerable will be told within days to be shielded from all social contact for 12 weeks to 'avoid the peak of the disease' and to 'give our NHS a chance to cope'. Re-watching the briefing it was clear that the PM was concerned about the measures being seen as draconian, and this was before lockdown. My collage is some photos from around town during that time, mostly when town was empty during lockdowns. Two years later we've seen between 163,000 and 185,000 deaths in the UK (depending on definitions), substantially less than we would have seen without the non-pharmaceutical interventions, then the testing, vaccines and drugs to treat Covid. The pandemic is by no means over, cases are up 50% in the last week. But it's not the threat it was to the general population, although it is to those who may have a severely compromised immune system; the economy has largely recovered; and all legal restrictions have been lifted in England, although guidance is still in place. 

It's 2 years to the day that I started recording a daily 'Covid diary' here. At the start, I had no idea I'd be recording a diary every day for 2 years, I  thought it would be a few months only like a flu epidemic. News at the moment is difficult to find given the understandable blanket coverage of the war in Ukraine and there is less Covid news now anyway. So from today I'm only doing the update (for my record only) when there's something to record. 

Day 730 / Day 21 of no Legal Covid Requirements in England (for my record only)
Exactly 2 years since Boris told us to avoid all unnecessary contact with others and to work from home. The latest ONS attitudes survey says 76% are still wearing face coverings and 57% are avoiding crowded places, although 9% of people said life was back to normal. Interestingly 2 years ago the survey showed only 11% of people thought it would take more than a year for normality to return (so an amazing 89% underestimated the risk and the consequences). Now 2 years on, 32% feel it will still take more than a year to get back to normal.