The evidence of the impact of the virus on children has also been reassessed in light of the emergence of the COVID-related Kawasaki syndrome and international studies on the viral load and transmission among children, with experts now concluding the risk to children over the age of ten is broadly similar to the threat to adults.

Ignored advice; political decisions

The dangers of a second wave are so great that the government was advised to open schools and nothing else as a first step, but the advice was ignored in what public health specialists say could only be a political decision. Instead, the government has released lockdown across multiple fronts, throwing away the opportunity to control the spread of the virus.

But the government is doing worse, deliberately delaying a measure recommended by experts so that it can look like it's doing something extra as the virus spikes again.

Masks held back

According to public health sources, making masks genuinely compulsory in public spaces has been held back, again for political reasons - so that the government has something additional to offer when the second wave hits.

'Herd immunity'

What is not being prepared is as significant as what is. There is no intention to re-tighten lockdowns as another wave rises, in spite of claims to the contrary. The virus will be allowed to spread with minimal mitigation - and the 'herd immunity' plan with which the Tories entered the pandemic and which has always been pursued, with only a change of language because of public horror at the number of deaths it would cause, will continue.

The Tories secretly tripled temporary mortuary capacity in May in anticipation of an autumn second wave and have already thrown away tens of thousands of lives without even an expression of regret. The continuing preparations - and lack of them - for that second wave expose the Tories' complete disregard for those they are supposed to protect.




TODAY - MONDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER 2020

The SKWAWKBOX reported this morning that 158 UK schools have been hit by coronavirus outbreaks since the Tories re-opened classrooms.

That number has risen to 183, with 25 more schools affected in just a few hours.

One of the schools hit was the scene of a Boris Johnson PR stunt last month, while a school in Health Secretary Matt Hancock's constituency is the site of the first confirmed on-site infection cluster.

The rate of new infections in the UK has hit a 129-day high. The return to school, the push for workers to return to workplaces and the reopening of indoor hospitality is fueling a second wave that health chiefs have been told to expect at the beginning of next month.

Yet the Tories - with the collusion of Keir Starmer - continue to press ahead regardless.