To think this statement by Matt Hancock is incorrect?

[greenback]

From the BBC today: Mr Hancock said he understood that "people are yearning to know how long this will all last", but that "the answer is entirely dependent on how much people follow the rules on social distancing"

Bur I don't see that there is a direct connection between these two things.

I can see that the lockdown will dampen the spread of the virus, enabling the NHS to cope. It will also mean that the peak (of the first wave of cases) will come sooner rather than later. But that still doesn't tell us how long the lockdown will last. After we've passed the peak, the length of the lockdown is still entirely dependent on an exit strategy that hasn't yet been fully defined, and which is in turn dependent on antibody tests that haven't yet been successfully developed, or on social tracing apps that haven't yet been proven to work. China may have their new infections under control for now (assuming their numbers can be believed) but they still have tighter measures than ours in place and so are a very long way from getting back to normal.

Disclaimer: I didn't vote for this government, but generally think they're doing a good job in difficult circumstances. I think Matt Hancock comes across as genuine and honest. So I'm not making a political point - I just don't think this one statement is correct. Am I missing something?

PotholeParadise, after all this is over there will be an independent public enquiry into how it was all handled, and lots of papers published comparing the approach and outcomes for different countries. All of the things you're talking about will be looked at in detail and scrutinised fully. I've no doubt there will be mistakes identified, as well as successes, because the Government machine is built out of humans, and humans don't always get things right.

In the meantime, all we have are partial glimpses and one-sided views that are often politically motivated. Sometimes they're justified in giving politicians a kick in the right direction, and that's fine. But they can also have negative effects, causing panic and levels of disillusionment that impact people's mental health.

We've got a long way to go on this, so hopefully the (mostly) constructive approach taken by politicians from all parties will continue.

@greenback

" ... all employers take a dim view of it, so it should be no surprise if there are sanctions for doing so

Let's preface that with "when an employer is lying, the employees must not tell the truth..."