Lockdown will remain intact until jabs are administered far and wide - with government ministers repeatedly emphasising that the vaccine is our ticket out of here.
The development of vaccines at the tail-end of last year had injected some much-needed hope for the future, with many anticipating and expecting some brighter months ahead.
But any NYE good cheer was dampened quickly, with soaring cases forcing England to re-enter hibernation on January 4 to relieve pressure on the NHS.
Lockdown will remain intact until jabs are administered far and wide – with government ministers repeatedly emphasising that the vaccine is our ticket out of here.
Progress is good.
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More than 10 million people have received a jab so far, with the government on target to vaccinate the most at-risk people in Britain (care home staff and residents, those aged 70 or over, frontline workers and clinically vulnerable) by February 15.
The latest data has also shown that the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab has a “substantial” effect on transmission, and just a single dose could offer 76% protection three months on.
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Cases, too, are falling – with the rolling 7-day average down from nearly 60,000 positive tests to 21,000 in the space of a month.
Bernard Sharp / Geograph
The major obstacle to the road to normalcy is the emergence of new variants.
A strain found in South Africa is currently causing most concern, with scientists believing it may be more transmissible and slightly more resistant to vaccines (although formulas are in the process of being tweaked to ensure maximum effect).
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In the meantime, the government is focusing on ramping up the rollout with the aim of vaccinating every adult by the end of June, according to The Telegraph.
This optimism is also being shared by certain members of academia, with Professor Andrew Hayward, – expert in infectious disease epidemiology and inclusion health research at University College London – telling The Mirror that things could be looking up by the summer.
He stated: “Once the most vulnerable people, particularly those over-50 and those with chronic illnesses, are vaccinated then yes, I think we can see a significant return to normality.
“I think what we’ll see is a phased opening up as vaccination levels increase. Then we’ll be more or less back to normal for the summer, I would imagine.”
The Bank of England is also predicting the economy to bounce back at speed – claiming that GDP would “recover rapidly” throughout the course of 2021.
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Health Secretary Matt Hancock has expressed hopes for a “great British summer”, which have been echoed by Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi.
David Dixon / Geograph
After a pretty torrid winter, the outlook for the UK appears to finally be improving, but there remains a huge question mark as to whether the virus will soon dwindle to tiny numbers like it has in nations such as New Zealand.
Strict border controls are also likely to remain in place for travel to any other nations where COVID variants emerge, and Dr Clare Wenham, assistant professor of global health policy at London School of Economics, said it could be another two or three years until complete normality is restored.
“This pandemic isn’t going to be over until it’s over globally,” she told Sky News.
“We’re still going to be living in some form of restrictions – travel restrictions, border controls – even when we’re vaccinated, until it’s over round the world. So there’s a real imperative to make sure that everybody round the world has at least minimum levels of vaccines at the same time.”
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Prof Helen Rees, who sits on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) committee for Covid-19, agreed that normal life was many months away.
She told the BBC: “I’m afraid to say… I think we are going to be well into next year before we see a change.
“The mask-wearing, the distancing – all of the measures that we have put in place – will have to continue.
“This virus is nasty and this virus knows how to change. If we want to get rid of it, my advice to the politicians is to continue what you are doing – to have these measures.”
Over the course of the next few weeks, it is likely we will begin to see a gradual lifting of lockdown measures across the UK.
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Schools are being tipped to return on March 8 in England – with Scotland already confirming a return for some pupils later this month.
The week of February 22 will bring us the next big update – as Boris Johnson unrolls his roadmap to exiting lockdown and announces what will reopen on which dates; including shops, pubs, gyms and hairdressers.
After this announcement, the fuzzy outlook for the rest of 2021 should come into sharper focus.
It may still involve face coverings and keeping a distance. But also far more freedom.
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Flashbacks: The timelapse of the Trafford Centre construction that’s gone viral
Danny Jones
The Trafford Centre might look like some decadent Roman emperor’s palace or as if it was plucked from the heart of Ancient Grecian city, but as anyone old enough to remember it’s opening and/or construction will tell you, it seems strange to think its not even been around for three decades yet.
As Greater Manchester’s and one of the North West’s most famous shopping centres full stop, the iconic attraction first began being built back in 1996, when John Major was Prime Minister, Manchester United were still Premier League champions, Britpop was at its peak and George Michael was number one.
It’s fair to say that a lot has changed since then and although Oasis might be back come 2025, The Trafford Centre and surrounding area are pretty unrecgonisable compared to nearly 30 years ago.
All told, it took approximately 27 months to erect the neo-classical epicentre of all things shopping, leisure, food and fanciness – and here’s what the process looked like:
With the initial 14 million sq ft shopping centre being completed in September 1998 following approximately 810 days of work, The Trafford Centre debuted to the Manc public and beyond.
It took more than 3,000 builders to bring the 60 hectare site to life at the peak of construction and since then the plot has only grown bigger, bolder and more ambitious over time.
Present day, it has everything from cinema screens and a mini Legoland to a Sea Life location, multiple bowling alleys and countless other forms of entertainment beyond just rows of shops and restaurants – hence why it remains busy pretty much year-round.
Back then, British celebrities, popular local names of note, politicians, dignitaries and prominent figures from the retail industry got to visit as part of exclusive preview events in the days before its launch date.
You can see the spectacle and fascination surrounding the official opening event here:
Seems surreal watching this today but the construction of the Trafford Centre was a huge moment not just for 0161 but all of the North.
But of course, the entire complex itself has seen multiple extensions over the years, including massive developments such as Barton Square and The Great Hall.
At the outset, it cost more than £600 million to build The Trafford Centre; the major renovations mentioned above which took place in 2008 cost another £100m and the Trafford Palazzo revamp around a decade later came in at around £75m.
There has and always will be lots of money put behind this intruguing monument to modern consumerism, and big brands will continue to flock to open units within the huge expanse whenever they can: some of the most recent being Archie’s, Flying Tiger, Sephora, Tiffany, Gymshark and more.
We’ll admit the aesthetic still makes us double-take from time to time (though not as much as confused Londoners visiting for the first time), but it’s not like this part of the world hasn’t boasted plenty of other curiosities in the past…
Featured Images — Charles Bowring (via Wikimedia Commons)/The Manc Group
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‘Nothing is eternal’: Is Pep Guardiola hinting at the end of Manchester City’s supremacy?
Danny Jones
Pep Guardiola looks to have suggested that more than a decade of Manchester City’s supremacy and Premier League dominance at the very least might be coming to an end.
Speaking in his post-match press interviews after City were knocked out of the Champions League by serial European Cup winners Real Madrid, Guardiola cut a somewhat more deflated figure than usual following the 3-1 defeat.
A Kylian Mbappe hattrick which was closed out within an hour of play was enough to stretch the aggregate score to 6-3 over the two legs and Madrid doubling their lead across the tie proved yet again why, not unlike City domestically over the last decade, they’re the kings of the continental competition.
In contrast, however, Pep seemed to accept the loss much more easily than perhaps we’ve seen in the past and rather than appearing familiarly frustrated or defiant in the press conference; instead, he seemed rather reflective, responding to one reporter: “Nothing is eternal”.
🗣️ "Nothing is eternal" – Pep Guardiola.
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Insisting that they have to decide whether a significant rebuild is needed to keep competing at the very top level consistently as they have done since the 54-year-old arrived back in 2016, he argued that it is only with that they’ll be able to determine what comes next.
As for the result itself, he made no bones about Carlo Ancelotti’s side having “deserved it”, stating simply that “the best team won” and that fans and players alike have to “accept the reality: they were better.”
Having been a familiar foe for Pep long before he arrived in Manchester, both at Barcelona and Bayern Munich – not to mention City having faced Los Blancos a dozen times before Tuesday night since 2012 – there have been less surprising outcomes for supporters to come to terms with.
“With time, the club and everyone is going to accept what it is but for now we have 30/40 games for the Premier League next season to try and be here [in the Champions League] and to improve. Nothing is eternal”, said the Catalan coaching genius.
On the other hand, he also went on to add that it was merely a reflection on the night itself and not what his team have achieved in recent years.
He went on to remark that “when we were playing outstanding it hurt more” to be knocked out of the UCL when he felt they deserved to stay in it, but still insisted: “We have been unbelievable and we have to try step by step to get better from today.” Tonight just wasn’t the night.
Who knows? Perhaps it was just some more melodrama from a manager with an undeniable flare for pageantry and playing into/in the face of narratives when he doesn’t come out on top – which hasn’t happened all that often until their dip in form this season.
Plus, there’s certainly still plenty for him and the fans to be positive about; not only has the arrival of their ‘Egyptian Prince’ and the media’s Mo Salah successor, Omar Marmoush, got plenty of people excited – especially after that first-half hattrick against Newcastle – but so too have the other January signings.
In fact, for all of his downplaying in this particular presser (which you can hear in full HERE), it felt like there were only upsides after their victory over Newcastle, even going so far as to dub new signing Nico Gonzalez a ‘mini-Rodri‘.
You can watch the highlights from the game down below:
Pep is right, nothing is eternal – but sometimes you just come up against talents like Mbappe and there’s very little anyone can do about it.
The Manc -
5th February 2021 
