The decision to end restrictions is dangerous and premature, unethical and illogical.

Not all scientists are what I would think of as having ALL the correct qualifications in order to lecture the general population. Did you all see how Susan Michie, a member of SAGE, reacted when Richard Madelely asked her why we should listen to her when her speciality is psychology which makes her a behavioural scientist not a Clinical scientist in the same field as Vallance, Whitby and Van Tam ( my favourite) Moreover, as Madeley asked her if her membership of the Communist party influenced her opposition to government policy. She was really annoyed with him for daring to suggest both that she was not medically qualified to make pronouncements as though she was in the same league as practising clinical scientists and/or that her political views were of a minority. We are all influenced by our political point of view so I vote Conservative although I am no fan of Boris and I always read WhiteWaterMarks and Algerias1 knowing that they are on the left. I must admit that I am surprised by just how many of us here seem to vote Labour! So really, while I read posts here, I am always aware of political bias and I am sure most of you are too.

I've never voted Labour in my life. Just saying.

I’ve never voted Tory in my life?. But have voted Labour, Green and Lib Dem.

Although I’m still not going shopping etc when I do venture forth fully masked I see no evidence of people not living what looks like a pretty normal life compared to the first lockdown. There’s a steady stream of people driving past the house, people are walking by. Others are sitting outside the pubs. I’m not doing it myself but people are meeting inside people’s homes. If we carry on with social distancing and mask wearing there won’t be a flu epidemic this winter. Under the governments new strategy there could easily be a flu epidemic this winter especially if the vaccine used isn’t the right one. Hopefully the same measures will reduce noroviruses as well. We still all need to do everything we can to take pressure off the NHS so they can begin to get on top of the backlog of operations etc.

Annie1
Although Alegrias isn’t a Labour voter but SNP as she tells us ( which explains it) I would say that yes, we all have political bias, but still have differing views, ( just as the scientists do) on
How we should go about our daily lives with Covid around.

Are you following me Lemongrove? ?

I'm a Scottish scientist, I guess that must really irk..... ?‍?

Daisymae. I agree totally. Long Covid in children could be awful. As a mother of a child whose had ME since age 12 and was isolated /unable to attend school, being so Ill, was home schooled and as a adult now still having trouble, this could be the next time bomb

I’m going to keep saying this. All three of the governments in the other nations of the UK, including Northern Ireland, which is a right wing government and socially conservative are not going with the English Government on lifting all restrictions. Is that political, or just common sense because they have listened to the experts more closely?

It would surely be a very stupid person who would decide their view on health measures based on being Tory/Labour/whatever.
If I thought the Tory government was doing a great job on Covid, I'd say so.

What a ridiculous set of statements, some are actually nothing more than guesswork, the fact that this is attributed to the lancet is frankly unbelievable!

All restrictions will end on the 19th July

Nanette1955

What a ridiculous set of statements, some are actually nothing more than guesswork, the fact that this is attributed to the lancet is frankly unbelievable!

Um, have you read the Lancet article?

I think you’ll find it entirely correct.

Nanette1955

What a ridiculous set of statements, some are actually nothing more than guesswork, the fact that this is attributed to the lancet is frankly unbelievable!

Why is it 'unbelievable'?

Do you have evidence for this observation: " ... nothing more than guesswork, ...."

I bet we all remember back in the 1950s/60s, when Family Doctors' surgeries were plastered with posters that read:

'COUGHS & SNEEZES SPREAD DISEASES"

We were advised to use a hankie, or at least cover our mouths.

So back then we seemed to be aware that we could spread aerosol transmitted viruses - what is wrong with continuing to wear a mask in confined spaces and on public transport?

What are the anti-mask brigade scared of?

I wholeheartedly agree with the scientists!

We in England are living with a time bomb which will probably go off end of Aug or Sept. I was appalled at the way people celebrating the football match last night were acting , as though there was no pandemic and this will all feed into a dreadful raise in infections and long COVID. Johnson is going to give us freedom on July 19 just to be popular at what price. Also Alegrais1 I have never voted Tory and probably never will but I have voted labour, Green, Lib Dem and Independent because I research and listen before I cast my vote not just carry on voting for a party that makes mistakes time and time again.

Why are people having a go at me for saying I never voted Labour?

It wasn't me who made the link between voting and attitudes to opening up.

The world is looking on in disbelief, as we offer up our young people to be the guinea pigs in this latest unethical Covid experiment.

Maremia

The world is looking on in disbelief, as we offer up our young people to be the guinea pigs in this latest unethical Covid experiment.

Is the world looking on in disbelief at Sweden?

No lockdowns, schools have remained open.

We should not be relaxing Covid regulations until 80% of the adult population has been vaccinated. This would be a huge incentive for those who are reluctant to get the jab to have it done.

Bossyrossy

We should not be relaxing Covid regulations until 80% of the adult population has been vaccinated. This would be a huge incentive for those who are reluctant to get the jab to have it done.

I suggest you inform Professors Whitty and Valance as at the press conference just now they explained clearly the reasoning behind opening up on 19/07 .

GrannyGravy13

Maremia

The world is looking on in disbelief, as we offer up our young people to be the guinea pigs in this latest unethical Covid experiment.

Is the world looking on in disbelief at Sweden?

No lockdowns, schools have remained open.

Have you seen the statistics for Sweden? Their policy was a disaster.

Claim: "No-lockdown Sweden fared better than the UK"

Verdict: It's true that Sweden has had a lower Covid death rate than the UK, but it has fared significantly worse than its neighbours, all of which had tighter initial lockdown restrictions.

Many people opposed to Covid restrictions point to the example of Sweden, a country which at the beginning of the pandemic avoided introducing a compulsory lockdown, and instead issued voluntary distancing advice.

However, Sweden is a very different country to the UK and has characteristics that may have helped it during the pandemic.

It has a lower population density, and a high proportion of people live alone. The capital, Stockholm, is also less of an international transit hub than London.

When compared to other Scandinavian countries with similar population profiles, Sweden has fared much worse and recorded a significantly higher number of deaths than its neighbours, all of which have had tougher restrictions during much of the pandemic.

Covid-19 deaths in Scandinavia. Per 100,000 population. The chart shows deaths per 100,000 population. Sweden has by far the largest number with 127 per 100,000. Norway has 11 per 100,000,
Finland 14, and Denmark 41.
Based on total recorded Covid-19 deaths up to 14 March 2021.

It is hard to separate all the factors that might have caused this, but the absence of strict lockdown measures is likely to have contributed.

There's also no evidence that Sweden's economy did any better than its neighbours.

Scandinavian economies during the pandemic. GDP growth over time (% change). .

What Europeans have learned from a year of the pandemic
Although Sweden chose not to lock down early in the pandemic, with bars, restaurants and shops remaining open, increasingly tighter legally-binding restrictions have been imposed over the last five months.

These include a ban on public gatherings of eight or more people, limits on numbers in stores, gyms and on bookable public transport and a stop on serving food and drink after 20:00.

Daily reported deaths have been falling since early January, but the infection rate remains high.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/55949640

And it's not true that all schools remained open in Sweden. Colleges for over 16s were closed.

growstuff

And it's not true that all schools remained open in Sweden. Colleges for over 16s were closed.

I said schools, not colleges.

I am perfectly aware of the situation as we have family there.

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf says coronavirus approach 'has failed'

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-55347021