When did we start calling the First World War, the First World War? It certainly cannot have been before we had the second one. ‘Well, that’s the First World War finished, now we can look forward to the Second One.’ In fact, between the world wars, the first conflict was called the Great War.
In April, we had the Great Wave of Covid-19, now we have moved onto the second wave. In this case, however, the experts knew we were going to have a second wave before we had even had the first. It now seems we are being warned of a third wave, as pointed out in an article recently published in the Guardian newspaper:
“Government scientists have warned the relaxation of coronavirus restrictions over Christmas could lead to a third wave of the pandemic, with increased transmission and unnecessary death.”
Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, has stoked the scaremongering this week, warning that people must follow the strict new lockdown tiers coming into force in England this week, while the mainstream media, as has been their MO throughout the pandemic, have dutifully toed the line.
This raises a few questions. Are we really even having a second wave? Or is it just a suppressed first wave bursting out again, or what? I have studied the figures from around the world in ever increasing incomprehension.
If you look at single countries, or choose your countries with great care, you can suggest that there was a first Covid-19 wave in spring 2020, and now it has come back, in a second wave. Here are the figures for coronavirus cases in the UK, from March 5.