Well worth reading this Twitter thread # from John Burn-Murdoch on why the UK differs from its peers in Europe on Covid at the moment. Some extracts below but only a full read does it justice.
Quote:
NEW: there’s been a lot of chatter about why cases, hospitalisations and deaths are much higher in the UK than elsewhere in Western Europe.
I think a lot of the commentary has been overly simplistic, politicised and at-times flat-out wrong...
[snip]
Here’s a look at what those countries are doing differently to reduce transmission:
• % of people never wearing masks has rocketed in UK but stayed very low elsewhere
• % of people attending large gatherings in UK is surging way ahead of elsewhere...
[snip]
So I hope we can now see that:
• Yes, mask-wearing has plummeted in England and reversing that would help
• But higher rates of crowded indoor mixing are likely a bigger issue
• And both are almost certainly dwarfed by UK’s much more acute waning problem (as seen in Israel)
Oh, and two brief related additions as a reminder that we shouldn’t forget about structural issues either:
UK has far worse sick pay than other Western European countries, making it much harder for people who do get sick to stay home and protect others.
Older people are far more likely to be in poverty in the UK than elsewhere, which can increase their risk of both catching and dying from the disease.
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https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/sta...01652207239176