What has happened this summer?

Everything has been different since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. First, there was the optimism that SARS-CoV-2 would not affect the UK as had been the case with SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, but then came the realisation that it was a serious risk even to the UK population. Daily, more is learnt about SARS-CoV-2, namely, its transmissibility; incubation period; the proportions of those with mild illness, those requiring hospitalisation and those requiring intensive care; mortality among those aged less than 65 years; and the comparison of SARS-CoV-2 with previous pandemic influenzas (Petersen et al, 2020). The evidence suggests that the virus is mainly transmitted through the air in close-contact environments rather than through fomites (World Health Organization (WHO), 2020a). Consequently, the focus is on breaking the chains of transmission by limiting close contact between infected individuals and others and the use of fabric face masks to counter inadvertent transmission by asymptomatic individuals in the community (WHO, 2020a).