Delta variant turns England into postcard of a cataclysm | Five days after ‘freedom day’, covid cases have skyrocketed

From London

Five days from “freedom day”, With half-empty supermarkets and over half a million lone workers due to the covid, with half of the high school students confined to their homes, with the head of government also isolated (Boris Johnson and his finance and health ministers isolated), the postcard of England today it looks more like a collective cataclysm – like that of the enormous shortcomings of the post-war period – than the return to normalcy that the Prime Minister wanted by lifting all restrictions.

In addition to the number of infections that have exploded over the past two weeks (more than 50,000 cases per day), there is “pingdemia”, the number of cases per day. the much more transmissible Delta variant which forces all those who have been in contact with the infected to isolate themselves. What the number of detainees is around two million today and affects essential servicesFrom healthcare to transportation, garbage collection to food supply, the government is looking to change its own rules of the tracing and tracing game so these workers do not have to self-isolate for 10 days on their own. they received two doses of the vaccine. .

The percentage of the population that received both inoculations is close to 70% while those who received only one vaccine represent more than 87% of the population. The problem today is that the number of infections with the Delta variant exceeds the number of daily inoculations and ‘pingdemy’ empties workplaces with apocalyptic scorched earth scenes like the one this columnist experienced when he went to his neighborhood supermarket and found the vegetable and fruit shelves empty and with noticeable holes in virtually every area.

Forced change to replace insulation

The government has a pilot scheme for civil servants that replaces the isolation requirement when you have both doses and have been in contact with a case of covid with a daily test that certifies that there is no had contagion. This Friday, the Secretary of the Environment, George Eustice stressed that the measure will be extended to more than 10,000 workers in the agri-food industry who will benefit from this alternative to confinement.

If they are “pinged” by the National Health Service application (the ping is the alert sound that the application emits on cell phones) Instead of being isolated, they will have to take the test and be able to go to their workplace if they are negative.. “We have identified priority places to do the tests which include supermarket distribution centers and they will be implemented this week. Then we have about 500 additional places that will cover the whole sector, ”he said.

Large sectors in crisis due to covid

The problem is that the crisis affects large sectors and the official date for lifting the isolation requirement for those who have both vaccines is August 16, a date which was calculated by the number of people vaccinated (in September she would reach 100% of adults). Here is a brief overview of the current situation:

• In transport, emergency measures such as reduced hours of service in some parts of the country and places where service is severely disrupted or suspended because all flaggers are isolated.
• 20% of restaurant and pub workers are in self-isolation, on average 10% of businesses are in the same situation and there are also reduced hours to keep doors open at some of the big chains such as Marks and Spencer.
• In Health, some services have postponed the leave requests of their employees and it has already been noted that there is a new delay, added to that which has dragged on since March of last year, in health care.
• On July 15, more than a million students did not attend classes because of the “pingdemia”.

Deaths and boarding schools on the rise

Some Britons have decided to log out of the app in order not to receive the alert and to avoid isolation. While the rate of hospitalizations and deaths continues to rise steadily at a time when, in theory at least, social distance and the jugular no longer exist, even if in the streets one can see that many people have ignored this official policy in place since Monday and that many mayors like London and Manchester have adopted your own alternative protocol.

Today there are more than five thousand hospitalizations, but at the current rate the same government estimates that a peak between 1,000 and 2,000 daily hospitalizations will be reached in mid-August, which would again threaten to overwhelm the National Health Service. , the NHS. , with 100 to 200 deaths per day. The government is seeking to plug the holes in its proclaimed “day of freedom” (now better known as “day of madness”) with various announcements such as the requirement for vaccine passports to enter nightclubs and other mass demonstrations. Like last year, as if unwilling or unable to learn from experience, the Johnson administration is navigating a sea of ​​steps and risers that jeopardize something that until recently seemed close: a partial victory, but important, in the fight against the pandemic.