‘I think I have less faith in the government and their advice than what I once did ’

WE HIT THE STREETS TO GET VIEWS ON RENEWED COVID CONCERN

THERE has been a mixed reaction to the government’s warning that there could be 50,000 coronavirus cases a day next month.

The grim figure was given by Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance in a news conference on Monday morning. It suggests that, if the current situation carries on, where the number of cases doubles every seven days, we could be looking at a possible 50,000 Covid-19 cases in a day on October 19.

This would result in roughly 200 deaths per day, and have a massive impact on all areas of the UK. Following the news conference, your Grimsby Telegraph visited Victoria Street in Grimsby to get people’s views on what we should do, and whether they still have faith in the government’s handling of the pandemic.

David Christy, 67, from Grimsby, said: “I think, to start with, they should close all the pubs and restaurants. I know it will hit the economy hard, but people’s lives matter more.

“I think the restrictions on people visiting each other’s homes is just one step of many that needs to happen. You can’t restrict people visiting other houses while 30+ people are queuing outside a pub.

“I know a lot of places that aren’t following the social distancing in pubs, and it’s part of the problem.

“I think I have less faith in the government and their advice than what I once did. It’s just because they keep changing the advice every other day or week when it suits them.”

John Heskin, 77, from Grimsby, said: “I’m not surprised by the numbers. We are not taking it seriously. This month, thousands of students are moving across the country to different universities alone. What kind of impact is that going to have?

“I don’t think that people are taking it as seriously as they should. The government can only do so much, it is up to people listening to them.

“All the different governments in the world are struggling at the moment. I don’t think it would matter who was in charge, they would struggle either way.”

Martin Smith, 65, and Elaine Smith, 57, are visiting Grimsby from Halifax. Martin said: “I think they should have put lockdown in place sooner and kept it in place for longer, and made people wear masks from the start.

“I think they need to put a second lockdown in place soon, too.

“As soon as possible, really. We had to isolate for 15 weeks because I am at a higher risk, so it wouldn’t bother me if that had to happen. “I think it will get worse in winter because of the flu and cold season, especially if we don’t act soon to get on top of the rise in cases.” Elaine added: “I think the government could have handled it better.

“They did a good job with lockdown and the furlough scheme, but they just stopped everything far too soon.”

One woman said: “I’m confused about the whole thing.

“You can watch the news four different times in a day and the government have given a completely different set of advice. “It makes no sense, either. “You can’t catch it in a pub full of people but you can from visiting a family member?

“Or you can’t catch it after 10pm when a curfew is in place?

“I’m not sure what we could do to help reduce the cases beyond a lockdown. The guidance about what is and isn’t okay changes so frequently it’s hard to know exactly what we should do to stop it.” Charlotte Martin, 44, from Cleethorpes, said: “They are thinking about putting us under a second lockdown, and we are getting prepped for that just in case.