United Kingdom’s shocking reaction towards COVID-19 – Wave 2
Opinion News Analysis by Tala Karkanawi, Staff Writer
October 20th, 2020
As a student studying and living in London, the United Kingdom - I have witnessed the breakout of the coronavirus since the beginning, and it has been evident for everyone in England that the response was nothing short of handled poorly. When the coronavirus started appearing through diagnosis in the UK in around March/April, the cases were extremely high with 4000-6000 cases per day. The European Union had put strict measures in forms of responses when Covid-19 erupted throughout Europe, however the UK mishandled the situation, and was late to take action to say the least. A second wave was far from surprising, especially with how Boris Johnson and his government decided to handle the covid-19 situation. At first, the method of herd immunity was to be put in place. However, the people and the government strongly disagreed with this idea. This is why strict measures came in late, and this is why the covid-19 situation in the UK isn’t getting better.
The UK is getting ready for the second wave of the coronavirus, and a bigger one as well. The number of confirmed cases in the UK has surpassed 690,000 cases with 40,000 people dead and the number keeps increasing within the hour. Cases per day are surpassing 15,000 and it hit a record of around 22,000 cases per day as well. The government was, and continues to be, criticised extensively for their lack of care and appropriate response towards the situation and the mistreatment of the NHS staff when covid-19 first started until now. When the virus first began to be diagnosed in the UK, the NHS staff were complaining on the shortage of vital personal protective equipment which put them at a lethal risk in contacting the virus easily. Some workers were even forced to wear garbage bags during their shift for protection. What really puts us all to wonder as well, is the fact that the government shipped millions of PPE to Europe even with the shortage they were facing, and bought large quantities of masks and gowns from China and Turkey. The NHS staff were also facing issues in regards to the lack of ventilators. 8000 ventilators were ordered however only 5000 arrived, which caused a huge issue in the hospitals.
After the first wave of the lockdown, Johnson started to gradually open up the country back again: was the UK ready for this step? During the months of July and August, the number of cases decreased immensely reaching around 700-800 cases per day, from almost 6000 per day. It was all going well, the streets of Oxford street and Piccadilly circus were back to life, and the trams and tubes were becoming extra crowded again, and the cases were still stable.
At the beginning of October, the cases went up straight to around 14,000 a day.
The situation was highly intense since the country was slowly re-opening and the hospitals were clearing out. New lockdown measures were put into place dividing England into three tiers, however schools and universities remain open which caused plenty of controversy in the government’s actions they were taking trying to stabilize the rise of the virus. Tier 1 has a medium covid-19 severity, with Tier 2 being high, and Tier 3 being very high. Midnight of October 16th is when they moved London from Tier 1 to Tier 2. What I noticed about the new lockdown measures, that all three Tiers do not differ from each other a lot; restaurants may still open along with bars and pubs, universities and schools have to remain open, however a rule of 6 has to be applied which also puts the entire ‘lockdown’ measures into question. A group of 6 can go out with each other and not more, nevertheless, from my own personal experience, when I go out with a group that is more than 6 to a restaurant, the only measures they apply is that they make the extra sit on a different table than us, that is super close to our table. Johnson wants to keep the country working and moving since they have already lost a lot during the strict lockdown measures from March until July.
The UK doesn’t need another lockdown. And based on the first lockdown and the lockdown being implemented now, it won’t work and will never work for the case of the UK. What the UK needs is a strategic and a tactical plan that can decrease the level of cases and keep the country moving. Adopting the plan of herd immunity in the UK is what’s needed. Although most might disagree, this was Boris’s original plan and the plan that could’ve worked as well. Applying herd immunity does not mean there shouldn’t be measures being taken into place, yet closing and shutting down the country isn’t a plan as well. This is not a second wave the UK is facing, because the first wave isn’t over yet.