Even though small by number (12, of which 11 had at least one linked case that tested positive for Covid), this is increasing rapidly (although none in previous week may indicate a reporting delay).
117 prisons in UK, so around 10% of prisons.
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We need to treat the new variant as a new pandemic, and recalibrate our response accordingly.
A short thread.
The responses to Covid so far - 'Covid-secure', social distancing, etc. have up until now been calibrated on two things:
- the transmissibility of Covid
- a political calibration based on society's acceptance of direct effects of Covid (deaths etc) balanced against other effects
We have a new variant that is *so much more transmissible* that something is going to have to give
"By 15 February we *aim* to *have offered* a first vaccine dose to everyone in the top four priority groups identified by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI):
This is more nuanced message than in the Prime Minister's statement on 4 January which is ambiguous: 'expect to have offered' in the first paragraph' and 'vaccinating' in the second
The Government is making the same mistakes as it did in the first wave. Except with knowledge.
A thread.
The Government's strategy at the beginning of the pandemic was to 'cocoon' the vulnerable (e.g. those in care homes). This was a 'herd immunity' strategy. This interview is from March.