Why Britons are tolerating sky-high Covid rates – and why this may not last

[Mary Wilson]

Fri 15 Oct 2021 10.33 EDT

Hannah Devlin

It is one of the conundrums of the current phase of the Covid pandemic: the UK has among the highest number of infections across the world and a death toll that continues to steadily climb, yet the national mood seems sanguine. So is this down to British stoicism, a Keep Calm and Carry on mentality?

... On Thursday, the UK reported more than 45,000 new coronavirus cases – the most since mid-July – and more than 800 deaths were reported in the past seven days. Hospitalisations are rising, with one-fifth of ICU beds occupied by Covid patients, and the latest figures showed an estimated 200,000 pupils absent from school.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/15/why-britons-are-tolerating-sky-high-covid-rates-and-why-this-may-not-last

[etudiant]

The case distribution may be a factor if the wealthier segment of the population is mostly vaccinated, while the poorer sector suffers in relative silence.
The virus festers among the marginalized elements of society, as New Zealand discovered, which resulted in the failure of the zero tolerance policy.
A forceful reminder that just as no man is an island, neither is any part of society.