The third wave will almost certainly look very different to before. There will inevitably be fatalities, but not of the levels of the previous two waves. As a result, some doctors feel that any decisions on re-implementing restrictions in the months to come are likely to be moral and ethical questions, rather than medical necessity.
“I think wave one, wave two, it was clear that there was a huge emerging wave of infections and hospitalisations and deaths,” says Morgan. “Now, it’s different. I don’t think these are medical decisions anymore, they are ethical, moral and societal decisions, and they have to be answered by society, governments, and ethical institutions.”