Even if the new variant is milder, hospitalisations will be up due to the sheer number of people who will get it. The bigger picture will be a new round of the ‘pingdemic’ with many people isolating, especially when this hits the NHS staff. I’m sure there will be big supply chain issue too so get your toilet rolls and baby milk now if you can.

The issue of keeping schools open will depend on the reliability of the early reports from SA showing that kids are more adversely affected by this new strain.