Labour is right to demand an exit strategy

[Goldenheart18]

This lockdown has removed (I hope temporarily) our basic human rights. I get that it was done to ensure that the NHS could cope with the surge of coronavirus cases. But after 4 weeks the government has confirmed that the NHS is coping, and that it does have capacity for more cases. Yet they won’t even slightly ease the lockdown restrictions, or even give any indication as to how long they will last, or which ones might be eased up first. More importantly they won’t explain what their plan is for getting us back to some kind of normality.

Surely by this point , after 4 weeks, the government should have had a workable plan for exiting the lockdown, given that the longer it goes on the greater the damage to the economy. They keep saying that the science will inform when they lift the restrictions. But that makes no sense. Even if they get new cases down to zero as soon as we exit they will go right back up again. Surely the rate of infection is only part of the issue. The main one is how do we keep the rate of infection low once we leave lockdown (which has to be to be temporary if we do not want an economic depression).

It seems likely that any workable exit plan depends on testing and contact tracing. But where is the government on achieving any of that in the next 3 - 4 weeks? If they don’t publish their exit plan they cannot be held to account for whether or not they are putting in place the right measures to achieve it. And that’s why they absolutely should be open with the public now about what their plans are.

We have just gone through years and years of austerity as a country where poverty and homelessness has surged. We cannot afford another Great Depression.

Aibu?

A lot of the general public are coming across as thick and quite frankly ridiculous. For the past three weeks all I have heard is people talking as if the lockdown was only going to last three weeks and shocked that it was extended on Thursday

Really? I had no idea that a lot of people thought that. I've only spoken to about 20 people in the last 6 weeks and don't do social media, so am very much in a bubble, but none of my colleagues, family or friends were under any illusions that 3 weeks was just the start. At our virtual team meeting, estimates varied between 6 weeks and 6 months and that's pretty much in line with what friends & family think.

Even MIL gets that her roses will be past her best by the time she gets to have all the family over to admire them. She's 82 and doesn't read the papers or get news online, so I kind of assumed that most people knew that this wasn't going to stop after 3 weeks.

I believe that they have to review it every 3 weeks, and I think that, unless death/infection rates show a consistent downward trend by the next review, nothing will change then.

I think that we'll be in double figures (of weeks) before they ease the lockdown.

I am no defender of the media but that is absurd. Why? Have you heard the ridiculous questions they insist on asking?

Minister/Scientist: We won't be dong that because .. details
Journalists: But why.... why won't you admit/tell us?

Take the immediate response to Priti Patel's [not quite] apology! Nasty and pointless, unless you wanted a poisonous headline!

Especially as the media has been very good so far in taking drip feeds from the Goverment to sense the UK's view on this. Drip feeds? You mean real time information... on a daily basis. Data that changes daily, changes strategy daily...

For example lockdown. Or didn't you realise we were being prepped I bloody hope we were.... that's the whole point of it!

I don't see any comparable country doing anything better or worse. I see data variations, different cultures, different access to resources and different responses. I see incomplete data sets and hear about international cooperations, to greater and lesser extents. I hear about scientific and commercial communities working together, funded by all governments and I hear about various possibilities all still in the development stage, or early testing.

I don't expect miracles. I understand that things move slowly. I remember facts about things tlike thousand of test s purchased and found to be unreliable; PPE being bought and found to be wrong or substandard.

Mostly I remember that this is a global and that all nations and organisations (like the WHO) have had to change their strategies and advice as time goes on.

And I won't be scared into blaming anyone until all of this is over and there has been a global analysis and we actually know something for certain!

Meanwhile I'll sit here and watch my old life go down the pan - like everyone elses!

Personally I think the government are hoping businesses and schools will make the decision for them. More and more businesses are adapting to support social distancing.

Germany is looking at relaxing its lockdown. Angela Merkel gave this stark warning (you can tell she has a science background)
www.theguardian.com/world/video/2020/apr/16/merkel-sets-out-clear-explanation-of-how-coronavirus-transmission-works-video

There is very little leeway before the situation starts to worsen.

We cant be trusted as a nation, people are ignoring the rules (DH is a keyworker and sees it everyday)

And of course, none of us who are following the rules has any idea of this, because we're not out and about to see it.

I was quite shocked to see my NDN talking to her son, who lives elsewhere, while he was parked up in his van, and she was standing right by his van window. I had to restrain myself, I nearly asked her what the hell she thought she was doing!

Curious your posts are just a teensy bit condescending, and I think your analysis is pretty wide of the mark.

I agree they should be talking about it. I don't think they should give a date or say "This is the plan." But they could be saying something like, "We need to stick to lockdown and if everyone does and the infection rate falls then we will be able to start easing the restrictions with measures like x y or z."

I can't believe that we can't be trusted with that when you think of some of the stupid decisions the govt have made. Maybe running some ideas out would get them some useful feedback e.g. if a few days before the Cheltenham Festival they had said, "We have been considering letting this go ahead but we accept it might not be a good idea." Vast numbers of people shouting, "no." So they reconsider and cancel it. We are part of this, not their puppets.

In addition there are clearly D notices out as it's a national emergency. They seem to be abiding by them. The media has its hands tied. It appears you don't like any questions at all. Not very democratic really especially at a time we have had so many of our rights stripped away I've definitely wondered if the BBC have been gagged, they don't seem to be questioning much at all. Plus things like where was the media coverage of Priti Patel not being able to read a number, compare that to Diane Abbot getting some mental arithmetic wrong. Or Therese Coffey insisting that care homes can reclaim VAT when care managers say they can't. Why is there no coverage saying she was right or she was wrong? Maybe I've missed it but I am at home, sheltering for DH who is in a high risk group, so I am watching far too much TV coverage.

@MarginalGain and @Smilethoyourheartisbreaking we'll just have to disagree then!

I value your opinion of me about as much as you value my opinion of the situation we are in! But I doubt I would have publicly called your intellect into question!

@1forsorrow, I agree.

I like to think that people are generally not in favour of loads of people dying, and that their response to that sort of message would be to make sure that they stuck to the rules to make some relaxation of them possible.

I value your opinion of me about as much as you value my opinion of the situation we are in! But I doubt I would have publicly called your intellect into question!

I didn't question your intellect, I said that your posts are condescending in that they imply that people who think differently to you have fallen into obvious 'traps' that you have cleverly avoided.

Ironic, really.

government has confirmed that the NHS is coping, and that it does have capacity for more cases.

I am a bit uncomfortable with this government statement being quoted as if it were fact. How can it be the case, that the NHS is coping, when the NHS are so lacking the PPE required to keep them safe.

Workers (doctors, nurses, care workers) right across the NHS have actually died, as a result of infection from the patients they are trying to help.

How.can.that.possibly.be.called.coping

Never mind election campaigns, how can anyone think this is acceptable ?

there is an awful lot of research going on at the moment - not just into a vaccine, but trying to assess spread, risk, etc.
Seems a bit pointless to negate that research, and the opportunity to learn form other countries 'opening up' by announcing the strategy now.

It would be quite possible to outline a proposed strategy, with the caveat that nothing is set in stone and it will be revised, if necessary, as more evidence and data become available.

I think most of us would be able to get our heads round that. I'd prefer to think that they had at least an idea of what to do than that they're just running around like headless chickens while treating us like children.

Seems a bit pointless to negate that research, and the opportunity to learn form other countries 'opening up' by announcing the strategy now. Is anyone suggesting announcing the strategy now, I thought people wanted to hear something about the discussion and possible plans. You know almost like we are adults who are funding all the plans through our taxes, even our MPs seem to be kept out of it.

I always thought Johnson was going for a dictatorship and this has played into his hands beautifully. No need to prorogue a nuisance parliament, just send them home and then tell them not to travel. Use the masses to police and bully their neighbours.

YANBU
Either:

a. They think we are very stupid indeed. (Reminds me of Hitler's theory about propaganda that the public can only absorb one very simple message at a time. Who could blame them really, it worked for the election.)

b. They don't have a plan.

I like to think that people are generally not in favour of loads of people dying, and that their response to that sort of message would be to make sure that they stuck to the rules to make some relaxation of them possible. Exactly, if you want people to respect rules and act responsibly give them some respect.

FaFoutis in this case I think it might be a and b.

The hospitals are coping with the numbers which was the strategy.