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Devouring Our Own Children in Britain July 2021? Boris Johnson and Covid-19
‘If not now when?’’
— Boris Johnson PM
‘‘Abundans cautela non nocet’’
— Abundant caution does no harm
The PM of Britain declared yesterday that virtually all coronavirus restrictions would be lifted on July 19th 2021 despite predictions from scientists that it will cause a new rise in hospital admissions and deaths. He said in support of his decision — and it must be clearly stated that it his decision — that,
“We must be honest with ourselves that if we can’t reopen our society in the next few weeks, when we will be helped by the arrival of summer and by the school holidays, then when will we be able to return to normal?”
I assume that both these questions he posed during his announcement were not rhetorical and here is my reply.
During his announcement Johnson said case numbers could be as high as 50,000 a day at the point curbs were ended. The number being admitted to hospital is now more than 300 a day and doubling every 16 days. Chris Whitty, the British government’s chief medical officer, said this could lead to “very high” admissions “surprisingly” quickly but that a peak would be reached before the levels of pressure on the NHS seen in January. He…