After weeks of having lowest Covid in Europe the UK is now creeping up the league as reopening means more cases... data.spectator.co.uk
...UK now amongst the more liberal countries in Europe for retail...
...with signs of a big economic boom...
...and a surge in job vacancies, with ads now higher than pre-pandemic...
...big question is whether the (expected) rise in cases is a threat to NHS. Bolton has highest Covid in UK but the virus there is rising amongst the young (esp children)...
...big difference is vaccine success....
...which means huge antibody rates amongst the at-risk groups...
So all eyes on Covid hospitalisation at Bolton, the epicentre. Below from 25 May: still far below peak...
But overall, hospital rates after reopening (in black) running below even the best-case scenario released by Sage. This may change, but so far reopening going as well as could be expected.
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Sunak’s furlough scheme was a lifeline , created at breakneck speed. It was a case study in how the civil service can innovate and launch a successful product for millions.
But as Sunak knew, its longer-term effects were deeply uncertain. Would it really facilitate a jobs bounce back?
Is Sweden about to have a Conservative Prime Minister? Right now Ulf Kristersson's coalition leading the red-greens 176-173. Result may not come until wed svd.se/a/eEVAgy/valet…
Latest below - NB things can take days to settle in Swedish elections. But Conservative PM (a historical rarity) currently looks like the most likely outcome
With 92% votes counted, Sweden’s conservative coalition leads the red-greens by just one seat. So; too close to call, but Ulf Kristersson still has the advantage (even though his own party is now in third place after showing by the Sweden Democrats) svd.se/a/EQW8da/valet…
Sweden and UK are more comparable than many think: 88pc of Swedes live in cities, vs 84pc of Brits.
What matters with Covid is the concentration of people, not the distance between towns - as shown by Oliver Johnson et al: arxiv.org/abs/2005.01167
After rejecting lockdowns, Sweden's Covid hit - so close to ours first wave - started to stay significantly lower than for subsequent waves. How could this be, if lockdowns (in grey) made the difference?