For near-bankrupt firms 4wks isn’t ‘a little longer’… it’s a death sentence

TENS of millions of people who obediently followed every Covid rule on distancing, masking and washing will feel betrayed by Boris Johnson today.

So will thousands of desperate pubs, restaurants and theatres who are likely to throw in the towel after seeing their hopes of survival crushed last night.

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Four weeks takes us perilously close to autumn and the risk of a seasonal flu outbreak – but the PM wants us to wait ‘just a little longer’Credit: PA

The PM says it is “sensible to wait just a little longer”.

For these near-bankrupt businesses, four weeks isn’t “just a little longer”, it is a death sentence. And who believes it will be just four weeks?

Why would those shroud-waving Sage control freaks, some with a political agenda, surrender their grip on July 19?

Their unstated but unachievable goal is Zero Covid, a fantasy which distracts us from learning to live with this infection as indeed we must.

Four weeks takes us perilously close to autumn and the risk of a seasonal flu outbreak.

Will we tolerate thousands dying from this infection — as they do every single year?

Yes, the Indian variant is spreading fast. But our wonderful vaccines have broken the frightening link between infection and hospitalisation.
Treatments have improved dramatically.

More than half the population — and all nine high-risk groups — are safely double-jabbed. The risk of fatal infection is vastly diminished.

Thousands of desperate pubs and restaurants are likely to throw in the towel after seeing their hopes of survival crushed last nightCredit: Alamy

If lockdown becomes a routine response to infectious disease, can we EVER return to life as we knew it 18 months ago?

And will Downing Street really scrap the draconian State of Emergency rules after enjoying unlimited power over every aspect of our private and public lives?