Mirth wrote:
UK lockdown extended for a minimum of 3 weeks.
Dominic Raab says there have been indications that social distancing measures in place are showing success.
But government advisers say the evidence is "mixed and inconsistent", and in some settings infections are increasing.
He adds: "We still don't have infection rates down as much as we need to.
"Any change to social distancing measures now would risk significant increase in infections," he says, as well as a second peak and an increase in the number of deaths.
As a result, the government will keep the current measures in place for three more weeks.
He lists five points that will influence the government's decision:
Making sure the NHS can cope
Evidence showing a sustained and consistent fall in daily death rates
Reliable data showing the rate of infection is decreasing to manageable levels
Being confident in the range of operational challenges, like ensuring testing and the right amount of PPE, are in hand
Being confident any adjustments will not risk a second peak
In other words, rate of infection in community is low but there are hotspots in care homes/hospitals etc but hospital admissions have plateaued.
You could read between the lines and deduce the same from the data being shared with us here - the situation in care homes is a national emergency.
9 people died in one facility over the weekend.
It would appear that in the absolute panic to prepare hospital capacity and services, priority to care homes was overlooked for a critical period.
It is depressing to contemplate what conditions are like in some of the 200 care locations affected by clusters of the virus.
It's being addressed with emergency measures now but it appears that it's too late in many cases.
