Over 30 NHS staff. I don't understand why we are not more outraged, how did we become so accepting if this extraordinary figure? We seemed to learn nothing from Italy. Now several sources are saying the UK may have the highest death rate in Europe. Worried? We should be.
Eglantine, personally I am not playing political games. This is not the time. We have a certain party in power who it would appear has made some absolute massive errors. And no " the other lot" probably wouldn't be any better.
There's a lot of fact and detail, however I don't think that the influencers are bothered or interested. I suspect that policy was changed on the hoof after observations were made on the topics take were trending on Twitter over the weekend before lockdown was announced. This could be the level we are at. I suspect that history will reveal some incredible tales.
I certainly am outraged. Every time I've seen the number of deaths reported I've been incensed by it. People have been allowed to do exactly what they pleased from the beginning of January onwards and it's been an absolute crime when the powers that be knew exactly what was coming.
No closed borders. No closed airports. No halt on gatherings and meetings. What did they expect ? A quick about turn of this virus to somewhere else, over our heads ?
If we're not careful this pandemic could mirror the Spanish 'flu pandemic which killed millions worldwide and continued spreading for nearly 2 years. It's been said that a vaccine won't be sought for at least 18 months so the odds are stacked against us as a population with this many deaths to date. Not encouraging is it ?
I think that millions will die, it feels inevitable. When it gets a grip in countries where isolation is impossible, with little healthcare, poor sanitation and hygiene facilities.
EllanVannin, early research indicates that herd immunity is not the answer. Young people who have a mild version of the disease tend to have a corresponding mild, and temporary, immunity to it.
Therefore, there's a strong possibility that they are prone to catch (and transmit) it again. I do hope and pray that the research turns out to be wrong!
I believe the highest figure for deaths in the UK in modern times for seasonal winter flu is 23,000, not counting Spanish flu in the 19th century which killed a tenth of the world population. Sweden has not gone into lockdown at all so it will be interesting to compare figures when we think we are out of this pandemic. I have not seen any figures recorded for medical staff dying from flu in other countries so it's difficult to comment on that. Other countries mostly have insurance based /private health care schemes so can't be compared with the UK's state funded free for all at the point of use, which includes being accessible to tourists, non permanent residents and non taxpayers.
Heartbreaking news today. We have a family member who is in that count. Sadly he passed last Sunday, he did have underlying issues which made it all much worse. My heart goes out to all those families and to the NHS trying so valiently to save the lives of so many people.