50,000 Deaths And Counting

Britain has hit the awful number of 50,000 Coronavirus deaths, the most in Europe and to put that in grim persepective, is higher than the combined UK deaths in Afghanistan (456), Falklands (255), both the Iraq Wars (226), Bosnia/Kosovo (72), first and second Boer Wars (22,408), the Crimean War (22,182) and the troubles in Northern Ireland (763).
In mid-March, the medical and Scientists teams advising the UK Government told the Government to shut the country down with more people being infected every day and the outbreak doubling every three days.
With when every hour and day mattering, the UK government delayed a further fortnight before slamming down the shutters and calling a lock-down and Professor Neil Ferguson of SAGE estimated that locking down a week earlier could have halved the death toll, if they had done it when it was first suggested even more could have been saved and that one fateful, delayed decision in March could have changed so much for so many people.
With one eye on the economy, the lock-down was then lifted too soon before the virus and its reproduction number had been bought low enough and we find ourselves back in lockdown and the infection and death rate soaring once again.
The office of National Statistics figures show that of the 50,000, 30% died in care homes, a legacy of the Government decision to send the elderly from hospitals to care homes without a test with the over 75's making up three quarters of the deaths.
55% were male, with Bangladeshi, Black African and Black Caribbeans men and women suffering the highest death tolls with Security Guards, Care Staff and Taxi drivers the most at risk employments.
As things stand and with the infection rate still uncomfortably high, Christmas is going to be written off this year or at the very least severely limited so we can only wait for the Covid-19 injection to pass all the relevant safety checks and be pushed out for mass immunisation but you do have to wonder what should have been if only the Government has acted earlier as advised.