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Barometer

Who came up with ‘lockdown’?

7 November 2020

9:00 AM

7 November 2020

9:00 AM

The start of lockdown

The earliest known use of ‘lockdown’ in its current sense was in a 1973 story in the Fresno Bee, a Californian newspaper, referring to prisoners being kept in their cells after a knife attack. Despite apparently giving the world the concept, not all Fresno locals seemed happy to be placed in lockdown in April. A protest in May resulted in a fight between protestors and the president of the city council.

Bed cover

How full of Covid patients are hospitals? Hospitals with more than 200 Covid patients (data for 27 October):

—Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust: 450 out of 1,595 beds
— Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust: 249 out of 1,442
— Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust: 289 out of 1,512
— Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust: 236 out of 1,685
— University Hospitals of Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust : 232 out of 2,029
— Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust : 207 out of 1,368
— Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust: 201 out of 798
Source: NHS

Bust sizes


What about business death statistics? Has Covid-19 impacted on corporate insolvencies?

2019 / 2020

March – 1,586 / 1,232
April – 1,435 / 1,201
May – 1,355 / 980
June – 1,469 / 762
July – 1,450 / 965
August – 1,369 / 784
September – 1,513 / 926
Source: The Insolvency Service

PE lessons

We are being encouraged to exercise, yet tennis courts and golf courses will be closed. How did activity levels change in England during the first lockdown? People reporting taking part in activities at least twice in the previous 28 days (mid-March to mid-May 2019 vs mid-March to mid-May 2020):

2019 / 2020

‘Active’ – 65.3% / 58.2%
Walking – 20.9m / 21.2m
Cycling – 6.1m / 7.2m
Swimming – 4.2m / 1.4m
Team sports – 3.4m / 1.6m
Racquet sports – 2m / 1.3m
Gym – 6.6m / 3.7m
Fitness class – 7.1m / 7m
Source: Sport England

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