@ResilienceWanker
Really sorry to hear of your DHs reaction
river. That sounds grim.
I agree that it should have been expected that infections would increase once things start opening up. In fact, I'd be pissed off if they didn't, or else why have we had the restrictions for so long if they don't actually decrease spread! But it is so frustrating that there seems to be panic every time they do, because it happens to coincide with a new variant which we don't know very much about (which then turns out to be pretty much the same as the previous version in terms of illness, vaccine effectiveness and so on). Ok, at some point the virus could vary into something different, but continued restrictions aren't going to prevent that or make it less annoying if it does (or make it more likely that vaccines will be modified to cope with that one too... likely very speedily, assuming it will be similar to the ones we have already). But they are going to scupper everyone's ability to cope with an actually more virulent/ transmissable version. It's like the boy who cried wolf, but in a lockdowny kind of way.
The point about people's ability to cope is a really interesting one, on a few levels. The sheer relentlessness of it is my biggest problem. There have been quiet periods (such as last summer or right now) where there is little/no COVID-related strain on the NHS and during these times people should be allowed their freedom. Think of it as storing up coping capacity for when the next COVID season inevitably starts and/or when an actually dangerous new strain emerges. It would benefit not only mental health but people's physical health to be able to get out and about and do more, all of which are needed when fighting disease. We should also be straight with people in Scotland, like Whitty et al. were a few months ago, that cases may rise but that doesn't necessarily mean 'panic' if the vaccines are successfully taking the strain, as seems to be the case currently.
As it is, I can unfortunately see NS 'two-more-week'ing us for the whole of the summer until the Indian variant disappears (which it might not of course), then come the autumn cases will rise again because it's seasonal and round we go again, having had no proper break, not given people a chance to truly relax, people are even less healthy generally, not given the NHS any chance to try and catch up etc... The same mistakes she made last summer in fact.