Re-Opening Salvo

England is due to gain further freedoms from the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown on the 17th of May. There might, however, a problem. The highly transmissible 'Indian' variant of Sars CoV-2 (B 1.617.2) is now the 2nd commonest version of the virus in England (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/12/indian-covid-variant-calls-in-question-17-may-reopening-in-uk-say-experts). Almost 1400 infections with the 'Indian' variant, have now been recorded in England. These cases are particularly common in the North-West, around Greater Manchester. Some people are suggesting that restarting things on May 17th is inappropriate in such areas.