The reopening is now under threat, after Johnson made the same mistake yet again
Everyone who is looking forward to further relaxation of restrictions could be in for a big shock, it seems, as the new Delta (Indian) variant of Covid is spreading rapidly and has caused the beginnings of a surge in cases nationwide – not just in Bolton.
It is beyond mind-boggling that Boris Johnson could have yet again made the same mistake of not controlling entry to the UK from places where the virus is widespread – this time from India. It was clear in March that there was a huge epidemic there, and on 1st April the UK knew that the new variant was arriving. But it was only on 23rd April that the Government put India on the red list.
In those 22 days, and indeed over the previous month, travellers were arriving in numbers from India and as a result the new variant started to spread in parts of the UK. Now it has become dominant in lots of places – not yet in East Devon, but it is in Teignbridge and Exeter, among others.
The surge is small at the moment but the current level of restrictions does not appear to be slowing it much. All this points to tightening, not lifting, as the Government’s next move. Moreover, if the vaccinations do not protect so fully against this variant, which has been suggested by experts, these decisions will have put the gains of the programme at risk.
People talk as though Johnson’s pandemic mistakes, which Dominic Cummings highlighted last week, were in the past. But they are still threatening our safety and our chances of resuming normal life.
Seaton & Colyton MATTERS 
June 1, 2021 at 2:04 pm
Melbourne shut down in 24 hours.Why does it take uk a week.?
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June 11, 2021 at 10:29 am
Unfortunately, if we keep locking down every time there’s another outbreak, then we’ll never be out of lockdown completely because it will just keep happening over and over again. Surely it’s better to continue with social distancing, more protections for those who need them, vaccinations for those who want them and allow time to build up a proper immunity. I don’t think we can thrive – or even survive in some ways – with any more lockdowns.
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June 11, 2021 at 10:45 am
I don’t think it necessarily has to be a full-scale lockdown. But we need to do things like: minimise indoor mixing, drastically improve ventilation in indoor settings, and strengthen mitigations like masks (the Government foolishly stopped requiring them in secondary schools, which is where the worst spread is at the moment).
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