How safe is it really?

Earlier today, Sky News posted an article about how coronavirus could be gone from London in just a few weeks. As I am writing this, the R0 of this incredibly infectious illness is at an all-time low in London, at only 0.4. The Government are reporting that they are only seeing ~24 new infections every day in the capital city, in comparison to earlier on this year, where there were around 20,000 new cases each day. Now, this is incredible news - I would be first in line to get out of this crazy situation - but we must not forget that this crisis is nowhere near over. Different parts of the UK are experiencing this virus differently and at varying rates. For example, in the North-East, there are almost 4,000 new infections every day. Given that all around England, the R0 values are under 1, we can expect to see the daily death toll and numbers of new cases dwindle out, but in the meantime, people are still dying. People are still suffering. The effects of this catastrophe are not going to quietly disappear - I would be surprised if life actually went back to normal completely. Obviously, everyone is going to be immensely careful and cautious when going out for at least the next few months, maybe even a year. School trips are going to be another luxury that is going to be changed severely; going to other countries or parts of the UK is going to be a nightmare.

Despite the people in charge and the scientific advisors claiming that it is safe to go out, the situation we are in is very similar to the image beside this. COVID-19 is still out there, waiting for unsuspecting people to step out confidently, only to tear the population of the world apart yet again. We can't know exactly when this is going to be over, and I believe that we should, despite the information and guidelines given by the Government, stay inside and stay away from others, at least until you are certain it is safe.

This would give us a chance to learn more about this virus, maybe complete the discovery and production of a vaccine. Before we resume our lives and go back to how things were before, I think we should be as sure as possible that this virus is behind us and there is absolutely no chance that there could be a resurgence of coronavirus. Personally, I believe that staying inside is the best course of action - this is purely based on the fact that if Britons return to work and school prematurely, the science is suggesting that there will be a second peak. As many of you may have seen, whether in real life or in the news, after the PM released his statement about the lifting of the lockdown, there was a sudden flood of people going out - the exact opposite of what the Government wanted. Coronavirus is (however slowly) dying out. Our duty should be to stop it from coming back stronger and harder-hitting. If we are to experience a second peak, it may be more than we can handle. The NHS would be overwhelmed. Testing in the UK is going in the right direction, but we are struggling to even reach the 100,000 tests a day target that the Government set. If a second peak was to hit the UK and the rest of the world, I don't know how devastating it would be, but I can assure you it would be bad. To avoid this, I implore you, do not, if you can help it, go outside. Keep going with what we are doing now, and we will get past this safely. I saw a meme online recently - it was a question from the 2046 History GCSE Exam, saying 'Explain why the 2nd Coronavirus pandemic in 2020 was worse than the first?' and had an image of the scenes outside after the PM's statement earlier this week. If we are to stop these things from turning from jokes to reality, we need to stay safe and stay home. Thanks for reading this, and if you liked it, drop a comment and a like. See you next week.