There are fears of a second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, if lockdown ends too soon.
Folks have been clapping, praying and hoping for a swift recovery for Boris Johnson, on Thursday the Prime Minister came out of ICU without having been on a ventilator. Johnson’s lively spirit and leadership is being missed. The cabinet operates on an C18th convention of collective responsibility, the system of confidential free and frank discussion before reaching a decision for which they are collectively accountable. Dominic Raab, First Minister of State, is temporarily deputising for the PM, if Raab were to fall ill then Chancellor Rishi Sunak would step in.
The Labour opposition led by newly elected Leader Keir Starmer, economists, industry, institutions, businesses of all shapes and sizes are braying for government to declare their plan to end the lockdown, thus providing an exit strategy. The benefit of the lockdown is only just beginning to show and such calls to end the lockdown may be premature. However, one can sympathise that people cannot plan their business life and financial future when the situation is still open-ended. And the government’s caution is understandable as UK have not yet reached the Covid peak and deaths are still rising. The fear looms that if the lockdown ends too soon the second wave could be as fatal as the first, thus Raab announced the lockdown will continue.
The Labour opposition led by newly elected Leader Keir Starmer, economists, industry, institutions, businesses of all shapes and sizes are braying for government to declare their plan to end the lockdown, thus providing an exit strategy. The benefit of the lockdown is only just beginning to show and such calls to end the lockdown may be premature. However, one can sympathise that people cannot plan their business life and financial future when the situation is still open-ended. And the government’s caution is understandable as UK have not yet reached the Covid peak and deaths are still rising. The fear looms that if the lockdown ends too soon the second wave could be as fatal as the first, thus Raab announced the lockdown will continue.
When the time comes to phase out the lockdown it will hopefully include surveillance, early detection, testing, contact tracing, a decreasing rate of transmission and case fatality rate. Liam Fox MP and former Brexit Minister recommends categorising the population according to the risk they pose to themselves and to others, then to keep the high risks, the elderly and those with underlying health issues under lockdown until a vaccine is available. The rest of the population could be categorised into sub-groups, for instance, those who have had antibody or antigen tests, who could return to work. This combined with the recently improved NHS facilities would make the pandemic (and the economy) more manageable posits Dr Fox.
Regarding the phasing patterns some say construction should be the first to resume, others say financial services, others claim businesses with less than 50 employees should be in the vanguard, tourism, mass public and sporting events will be the last to return to normal. Although a YouGov poll found that 91% of citizenry supported an extended lockdown, it will be very difficult to dribble out the restrictions without a mass exodus. The only permanent way out of future episodes of lockdown is a vaccine or mass antibody testing.
In other news the board of Imagination Technologies Group, the British chip designer company who make GPU’s for Apple and Samsung, that was acquired by Canyon Bridge Capital Partners in 2017 for £550million, feared they were to be usurped by Canyon’s main investor, the state-owned $30billion China Reform Holdings. The possibility of the intellectual property rights and profits being relocated to China was shocking, and the possible threat to national security was flagged to GCHQ and the National Cyber Security Centre. David Davis MP and former Brexit Secretary intervened insisting on a government investigation. Oliver Dowden MP, Secretary for Digital-Culture-Media and Sport has replied saying his officials are working to understand the facts, and the National Security and Investment Bill will give the government extra powers to scrutinise foreign investment, Dowden plans to update Davis promptly. In 2017 President Trump blocked the by-out by Canyon Bridge Capital of Lattice Semiconductor in Portland, Oregon, citing national security concerns; Trump’s administration has successfully implemented technology blockades from US to China. The question is why did Davis have to bring this to the attention of the Digital Secretary in the first place. It is understood that this debacle will encourage the UK government review on Huawei 5G.
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