I used to look at graphs and statistics of Covid infections and deaths and wondered if the end of the Pandemic was in sight or if it was safe to visit the parents. Thanks to the World Health Organization, we now know that weekly Covid deaths have fallen by 9%. The picture is complicated because deaths are rising in the Middle East but falling in Africa and Europe.
We are still in the middle of a flu epidemic. Unless you are in a hot spot, you are likely to want to move on, to return to some semblance of normal, and to not worry about the climate crisis or the prospect of soaring winter fuel bills. The estimated 2 million or so people in the UK living with long Covid have other priorities at the moment.
It's not going to court popularity for Covid to be a live issue. For now, we're past the point of divisive arguments about masks. This is the time when it is appropriate to take stock, to learn lessons, and to try to process the grief and trauma of the past two years.
Both are disasters that have exhausted everyone, and neither reflects well on those in power. There is a sense that the Conservatives regard the pandemic as done in the same way that they regard the UK leaving the European Union.
The ministers and ex-ministers insist that the flu is now endemic and that we have exited the epidemic. The Partygate crisis was more important than the peaks in infections in early January and March. The vaccine will take care of it despite the fact that one in four Covid deaths in the UK occurred after they became available.
The rapid dismantlement of some of the UK's Covid infrastructure in the early part of the year was alarming. The government stopped funding the Covid tracking study and the react study in March. In the midst of the second- largest infection peak, freelateral flow tests were withdrawn too soon. It is likely to be the lowest income people who will forgo a check before visiting elderly or vulnerable friends and relatives.
The WHO cautions that its latest figures may not be as reliable as previous ones because countries are dropping their testing and monitoring capabilities. We ought to be doing the opposite right now. The director of the European Bioinformatics Institute says that they need to up their game inside countries.
The current political habit of moving on from anything awkward means we aren't dealing seriously with the Covid issues. This is not about personal freedom, but about future readiness. Building codes for hospitals, schools and public places need to be more focused on air quality. A simple air exchange is effective in fighting infections. He says that we will reduce the majority of other airborne viruses, too, if we improve the way we breathe.
The Covid public inquiry could give people an opportunity to learn lessons. It is possible that it will become as much of a political report as the Sue Gray report was. It's not a good thing that the UK deaths are not as good as those of other countries such as France, Spain and Italy. If there was a late surge in deaths in eastern European countries, the per capita outcomes would look worse.
There are bad things to come. If she could, Liz Truss would vote to stop the investigation into whether Johnson misled parliament. She said that she wouldn't authorize any future lockdowns. This position shows a frightening lack of knowledge about the threats we face. The Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) has a mortality rate of over 30% and anyone would like to have a vaccine for it.
When Patrick Vallance steps down as the government's chief scientific adviser, there is a big question over who will take his place. The chance to find someone more compliant was given to Johnson by Vallance.
Our capacity to cope with future Pandemics was adversely affected by the conspiracy of silence. The current Pandemic has claimed 200,000 lives in this country and will leave a legacy of disability as a result of long Covid. There will be a need for a marking of the trauma. We can't afford to let our guard down and refuse to look back.
Philip Ball is a scientist.
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