There has been much written in the UK press this week, and on social media, about an increase in the risk of a second wave. It certainly spooked global stock markets yesterday. Perhaps such talk was inevitable in light of the reduction in lockdown restrictions, but I just wondered if I had missed some particular evidence of second waves occurring.
I think the cause of the fall in stock prices was largely due to infections rising rapidly in American States, something that has not occurred yet and probably won't, in Europe.
Anyone who can remember back to the days when we could go to football or the pub, will remember those folks who weren't too fussy about washing their hands. How long before they stop worrying entirely about Coronavirus? At the moment people will patiently wait outside shops for the one in one out rule to make it their turn. How many will be so compliant when it is freezing and pissing down? People are prepared to socialise in the garden right now, do you think they might just decide it isn't worth getting cold for? How long are people prepared to wait for things to get back to normal?
We ARE going to create better conditions for the virus to spread by being closer to more people and indoors. It only matters if infections start popping up all over the place and we face another choice around shut down, or it is you who gets infected.
You have to hope and trust we will be better prepared come the winter. That track, trace and isolate works, that the Health Service can cope and improve treatment and that we can protect the vulnerable. All of which could make it entirely manageable. I have no doubt there will be a second wave, I am just not sure how big a deal it will be.
I know there is discussion and hope that the virus is naturally weakening and is just going to fade, but I really don't believe that.
My view on the reduction in infection rates, hospitalisations and deaths across much of Europe is that it is a direct result of the things that most of us are doing, and equally not doing, as we have become accustomed over recent months.
Social interactions are, for many people, massively down. I would estimate that my own family's interactions with others remains at a level at least 95% below pre-Covid levels. Sure, some people have become more "relaxed" about measures, whilst some may have never really taken it seriously, but most folk are doing the right thing most of the time.
The ridiculously good run of weather we've had must have helped too, since it seems that the virus struggles outdoors, and in the open air it is significantly more difficult to spread from one person to another.
Through the lens of Instagram, which I use to follow and interact with other runners, I've been stunned at the difference in the US where it seems social distancing is almost a thing of the past for many, and it's been like that for some weeks now.
As a result, I'm not surprised in the slightest to now read that infection rates are on the rise in many States once again - https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/10/health/us-coronavirus-wednesday/index.html - and it does seem as though there is some acceptance in the US that they're just going to get on with things and have ongoing death rates that could be around 1,000 per day.