Was there any news from COBRA?

[50mg]

Apologies if I've missed it, but I haven't seen anything.

They were meeting yesterday to discuss the emergency. What did they come up with?

Yes, they said “Boris is a work-shy nob”. Then sone stuff about perhaps work from home if you can.

I saw a headline saying people were being urged to "look out for vulnerable relatives and neighbours" following the cobra meeting. I hope that's not all they managed to come up with!

Raab has been in the papers saying we shouldn’t shut schools and should enjoy the sunshine. Boris was at a party and couldn’t be arsed to go.

Struggling to see why they needed a meeting to discuss what is basically common sense. Do we really need the government to tell us how to do everything

They said it’s summer and we’ve not a had sunny simmer for years so they are not doing anything

I did hear earlier on the news that there will be more 999 call handlers

I think it was more a ‘how much disruption and loss of life can we expect and is this an acceptable outcome’ planning meeting rather than a ‘how can we mitigate anything’ one.

@NightmareSlashDelightful
Sounds about right. They're not overly keen on mitigations for the general public.

Where will they get them from?

what will they actually do when there aren’t any ambulances to send?

I don't think they need to tell "us" what to do but I'd like to think someone is planning for the increased demand for emergency services/hospitals etc.

But the main reason for the post was the they were having a meeting and I wondered what the outcome was.

The DfE (in their wisdom) have said that schools shouldn't close but that they should close classrooms if needed. If they're closing classrooms and obviously children can't go outside, no one is clear about where the children should go 🤷🏼‍♀️
I'm in favour of schools staying open, I just am appalled (but not shocked) about the contradictory advice 🤦🏼‍♀️

@50mg I'd like to think those managing services had enough about them to manage risks themselves without help from cobra.

Apparently there will be more call handlers answering 999 calls, they’ll be able to tell people quicker that they can’t get an ambulance as they’re all waiting outside hospitals 🤷‍♀️

I think schools should stay open (I work in one), primarily to help reduce the chaos on the roads, which really will be dangerous, but I think attendance will be very low anyway. The main reason some schools are closing is to protect their attendance figures imo

My dd's school is closing at lunchtime both days, which seems a good compromise to me. Schools in other countries often finish earlier in the day to avoid the worst of the heat.

Classrooms are often boiling when it's 30⁰, let alone closer to 40⁰, I can't imagine much learning occurring.

So many children would be safer at school. Those who live in flats. Those whose parents won't be at home and they'll spend the afternoon out playing. Those whose parents work. Those whose parents won't keep them in anyway..

I really think schools should take what precautions they can and accept the risk. They can't just give away the problem instead of accepting their responsibility to keep children safe.

Ambulance crews have been told not to wait outside A&E for more than 30 minutes with a patient in the back of the ambulance, and must offload them into the building. Where presumably it might be cooler.

What the hospital is supposed to do with them, I don't know. If there was room, they wouldn't have been waiting outside in the first place.

Presumably crews will still have to stay with them, just not in the ambulance?

People who have to work out of the home are entitle to free lollies all day*

*I may have made that up, but it should happen.😅

*entitled.

Is that you, Boris?