I know of three people who have recently contracted Covid-19, one now in hospital, having attended football-related events around Wembley during the Euro competition. One told me that the pub in Camden where he watched the match had actively encouraged revellers to remove their masks at the bar.
I mention this because we are about to embark on yet another period of mixed messaging. Despite half of the population, and most of those at high risk, having been double vaccinated, the highly infectious Delta variant is running riot. Double vaccination does not stop infection, as Health Secretary Sajid Javid knows all too well, but does limit the severity of disease. But, as pointed out by health experts around the world, this is not the point. Every transmission increases the risk of a new mutation, and so the risk of a new variant, unaffected by current vaccines, should be uppermost in our thoughts.
Social distancing and mask wearing do limit transmission, so me and my family and friends are going to continue with these for the moment. Sadly, we should expect a lot of aggressive, mask-free posturing in the coming weeks, encouraged by the ambiguous messages from government. Life can and should continue; but not as before.
Thinking of the future, I notice that the Clinical Council for Eye Health Commissioning, which represents the major eye care professions and sight loss charity organisations, has just released the results of a survey on the commissioning and provision of low vision assessment services in England.1 Interesting to see its advice that future services should ‘include provision of information on digital assistive aids (for example, digital magnifiers) and signposting to IT courses for those who are visually challenged.’ Our CET series on assistive and adaptive aids finishes this week. I hope you have found it useful.