I am getting rather tired of the sections of the news media that try to push a pro lockdown agenda with click baity headlines that are completely misleading.
Take Sky News this morning.
The headline is
England "very, very likely" to go into second national lockdown, says former government scientist"
When you scroll down the live feed in Sky News to get to the relevant paragraph you find:-
Reverend Professor Gina Radford has told Sky News the government is currently using regional lockdowns because there is "variation in what's happening across the country".
"In the North West, the infection is so prevalent that these measures are needed. But if you're further down south, say South West, where the infection is nowhere near as prevalent, to ask businesses to close is quite a significant step," she said.
She said fears about the economy and people's ability to continue following lockdown restrictions are the biggest factors in England not having gone into a second national lockdown yet.
But she added: "Will it happen? I think it's very, very likely, because remember we're still in October - we've still got the whole of winter to go."
So a
former government scientist is stating her opinion, and the way the headline is written makes you think that it is a fact that a second national lockdown is on the cards.
Similarly there were many headlines yesterday along the lines of
Birmingham set to move into Tier 3 or that it is
inevitable that the West Midlands will move into Tier 3,
possibly by the end of next week.
When you actually read the articles more closely, you see that the leader of Birmingham City Council has said that it is
likely, but not imminent, that the West Midlands will move into Tier 3. In other words the situation, while serious, is not yet at a stage where a move to Tier 3 is going to happen. It will depend on whether the numbers stabilise over the next week or so.