Here’s a thought. Look at this archived snapshot of Worldometers UK covid figures:
https://web.archive.org/web/20211019214928/https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/uk/
Coronavirus Cases: 8,541,192
Deaths: 138,852
Recovered: 6,991,909
8,541,192 – (6,991,909 + 138,852) = 1,410,431
Obviously, a lot of survivors aren’t completely recovering. The faster people get infected, the faster that figure grows. This will be a major drain on the economy that the government thinks it’s protecting.