How to find a safe way out of the coronavirus lockdown

We are in a big mess, there is no doubt. We’re battling a deadly virus, the Prime Minister is in hospital and the country is in lockdown. A less optimistic person could argue that all is lost.

The constant howling from our media does little to help – portraying death and destruction nightly on our screens is just too harrowing for many to watch. Reporting daily numbers is necessary, but there should be a much greater focus on trends as any schoolboy mathematician will tell you. New infections are levelling off. It is clear that we are at the plateau phase of incidence with the numbers bouncing around a bit. A lot of the day-to-day variation just reflects delays in getting the numbers together for presentation. When the incidence falls significantly, and it will, the deaths will belatedly follow the same downward direction as in those countries further along the pandemic pathway.