Britain’s manic Monday still far from Covid free

Britain has framed some absolutely core Covid questions for us. Are we prepared to ever face a Covid vaccinated future? Or are case-sparked lockdowns to be our never-ending story?

MONDAY morning the Brits were not only waking up to their “Covid Freedom Day”, they were also waking up to another day when the wind wasn’t blowing pretty much anywhere across or indeed around the British Isles.

Now, they weren’t waking up to a day – or week, or month anytime soon – that would be free from Covid. Indeed, case numbers had topped 54,000 a day and the Health Secretary had foreshadowed even higher numbers.

It might also be better called “Covid Half-freedom Day”: you still have to self-isolate if you get a positive test; but indoor venues will operate at 100 per cent maskless capacity, while our MCG sits even mandatory-masked empty.

As if to personify the contradiction, the said health secretary Sajid Javid is self-isolating after testing positive on the very day he’s freed all the ‘lager louts’ to resume drinking while (temporarily) standing up.

Thanks to the Brits though, for framing the absolutely core Covid question for us, and especially Victorians and Sydneysiders.

Are we prepared to ever face a Covid vaccinated future? Or are case-sparked lockdowns to be our never-ending story? Britain is around 62 per cent (adult) fully – two-jabs - vaccinated. It is opening up while knowing full well this will let the virus run. Those 54,000 cases translate to around 5400 a day in Victoria and 6600 a day in NSW. And that there will be deaths. UK Covid-related deaths have kicked up to around 50 a day. But that number’s obviously before the acceleration in case numbers.

People queue to get in to the Egg London nightclub in the early hours of July 19, 2021 in London, England. As of 12:01 on Monday, July 19, England dropped most of its remaining Covid-19 social restrictions. (Picture: Rob Pinney/Getty Images)

A Britain living with, say, 100 Covid deaths a day would be the equivalent of Victoria living with 10-a-day and NSW with 12-13.

Hmm. Food for thought.

Also food for thought downunder was the “wind not blowing” – and, it seems likely, also the sun won’t be shining much either. Remember, we are talking an English summer; don’t be fooled by those glorious sunny days through Wimbledon.

As the Brits were waking up Monday, they were getting – if you’ll excuse the technical jargon - four-fifths of five-eighths of very little power from wind.

In fact they were actually getting, cough cough, just a tiny bit more from coal-fired power – 350MW against 348MW.

Remember how our duo of twittering prime ministerial twerps, Malcolm and Kevin, were – I presume figuratively – wetting themselves over claims that the UK has said forever goodbye to coal, as it marched, actually crawled, into an all-renewables future?

Well, for all of Sunday and Sunday night, the UK was getting less than 3 per cent of its grid power from wind.

So where was the other 97 per cent coming from? The answer, in order, is gas 46 per cent, nuclear 20 per cent, the ‘extension cords into Europe’ 18 per cent, biomass – burning woodchips and pumping more CO2 that with coal – 8 per cent, and coal a little under 3 per cent like the wind.

Why is this particularly relevant to Australia?

Because the latest idiot we’ve imported to run our grid – someone called Daniel Westerman, from of all places the UK’s National Grid – wants to get our grid able to handle 100 per cent renewables by 2025.

Despite having worked in the UK what this idiot doesn’t seem to understand is that the biggest task in this fantasyland renewables future is not what you do when wind and solar can give you 100 per cent, but when they choose to give you zero or as close to zero to make no meaningful difference. Like the UK right now and very frequently.

Please Daniel, tell us how many gas fired stations and nuclear ones we’ll have built by2025, and which coal ones we will switch to burning woodchips; and just exactly which countries we are going to plug our extension cords into?

Originally published as Britain’s manic Monday still far from Covid free