Resigned to the pandemic, Brits are now indifferent to the death toll

When Boris Johnson announced England's second national shutdown on October 31, my phone lit up as family, friends and colleagues in Australia shared disbelief over Britain's mounting death toll and expressed sympathy about facing another lockdown. They had good reason to raise the former - in the 25 days since, 8796 people have died from COVID-19 in the UK and about 34,000 were admitted to hospital. While deaths are not spiking as sharply as earlier this year, they are high and likely to stay high for the next few months. But this lockdown has looked and felt nothing like the one in April and May. As cases climbed, the public largely carried on with life. Something profound has happened: rightly or wrongly, most here no longer fear the virus. In the great balancing act between health and the economy, the scales are now overwhelmingly lean towards jobs and social cohesion.