To think “Eat out to help out” will go down in history as one of the all time stupid policies?

[Skysblue]

Round here in August all the pubs cafes and restaurants were crammed with people eating out because they were excited about the discount. Some places had plastic screens but most didn’t. No distancing, just a load of strangers crammed together because the government was paying for them to eat out.

Now a couple of weeks later covid cases are rising and the government reckon it’s not their fault. So now it’s criminal to have meet ups over ) people.

Is it just me, or was encouraging people to go to restaurants (and offices) in the middle of a pandemic, a blindingly stupid policy?

@RunningFromInsanity

I think the people who are complaining were the same people who blamed the government for ‘ruining the economy’ and people’s livelihoods by shutting them in the first place.

They literally can’t win.

Same with schools.
Furious when schools weren’t shut early
Furious when schools were shut
Furious now that schools are open again

No matter what the government do there will be consequence and people will berate the decision.

I am ‘complaining’.

I think the government shut down too late.
I think the government did not shut down hard enough - so have just elongated everyone’s pain.
I think schools shut too late.
I think schools opened up again too soon.
I think schools have not been given enough support to help their disadvantaged pupils get access to online education.

I think the eat out scheme could have been a great method of relieving the tension at a time when risks were fairly low. However, the social distancing rules were not enforced, so naturally many places crammed as many people in as possible to make as much money as possible. As such it was a disaster.

I am not ‘furious’, it is to be expected that this government, being a popularist government, is bowing down to the wants and needs of their CEO chums, rather than listening to science.

I think it is the long term furlough that would be seen as a mistake. It should have been a needs based benefit not a blanket cover supporting even the very very affluent. Now, when we most need it, we may be running out of money.

I dunno, where I am (not UK) we’ve been eating out since June (or maybe May, it’s all such a blur) and not really had a spike in direct correlation to restaurants reopening. They’ve all been pretty full over the summer as well. The difference is probably that masks have been worn religiously, when we ate indoors our temperature was taken by the staff and there was obligatory use of hand gel when entering the premises.

We’ve had spikes due to people gathering in large groups partying on holiday and the mad decision to reopen nightclubs (which have since been closed down again). This has led to outdoor use of masks being reinstated in areas where people throng for nightlife.

No, because covid is not the only problem the country is facing. The economy being destroyed has terrible consequences on people's health as well and they needed to do something about it.

Of all of the idiotic policies in the last 6 months, this one is probably the least dumb. Of course the cases are going to start rising when people start mingling, a lockdown doesn't stop the virus from spreading, just delays it.

Nothing better than free money to overcome all other concerns!

Free money for people to stuff themselves with crap fast food while the rest of us will be paying for it.

@Tippytaps, the government should have locked down harder? Like in Spain you mean?

@cheeseismydownfall

Sorry if I am missing something, but how can spreading within households be the root of the problem? I get that once one member of the household is infected then transmission is more likely, but the first household member has clearly got to pick it up from somewhere?

Yes, they'll have picked it up from other households they've socialised with, or one or more of the household will have picked it up from, say, the pub or wherever else they've not socially distanced.

I used it twice and the restaurant we went to wasn't at all crowded, so there was easily 2 metres between us and then next family. We just went as a family/household, so I don't feel it was risky, and at least the restaurant got business.

The restaurants in our town were very grateful for it, I know it actually helped a few to stay open when they were literally on their knees. I find that social distancing is really organized in all the places I've seen. I didn't actually go out on discounted nights (my teenage son used it plenty though) - mainly because my husband works evenings but also because the restaurants I like best did have queues. I've eaten in a few of the restaurants on other nights though and I've been surprised at how well they've managed to follow the guidance. I think it was quite a good initiative.

I was thinking about this scheme earlier on. I can’t believe the government threw money at the hospitality sector but isn’t throwing money at the education system. There seem to be so many dc off in my children’s classes, some have been off all week waiting for test results to come back and because the bubbles are still in tact, there is no work set for the students who are not in school. Presumably if the bubble popped and everyone is off, the teacher will teach from home Via zoom or whatever, but no thought has been given to the massive problem of all the work that is being missed and therefore will need to be recapped when the children do return.
What n absolute mess!

Frankly, with the colossal stupidity that is Brexit still being faux-negotiated by a mendacious PM and his cronies, Eat Out to Help Out pales into insignificance.

I disagree. A lot of my friends had been in the house so long that they were very nervous of going out once restrictions were lifted. The prospect of getting a bargain meal tempted them out and the experience of seeing how well run and distanced various venues were has made them more confident. It’s nearly two weeks since EOTHO ended and none of them have become ill as a result of it.

It worked for me too. As a result of positive eating out experiences in August I have regained my nerve around leaving the house. I went to a (very enjoyable) SD cookery class in London today and have a theatre ticket booked for next week. I will wear face masks, wash and sanitise, keep my distance and enjoy the new normal. The joy I feel at being able to go out again is priceless and I’m not going to waste my chances while it lasts.

But in answer to your question, we used the scheme while we were away on holiday and once with friends. We would have eaten out anyway while we were away and do regularly eat out with friends, so all it did was gave us half price meals, we didn’t go out any extra. Out of all my friends that were going on about taking advantage of the scheme were those that often eat out at full price and can afford to eat out anyway. Those who can’t afford it, still can’t really afford it even at half price. Once again, excellent for the well off, for those not so affluent, it was a bit of a waste of time.

Why? I loved it - me and DD did many breakfasts/lunches/dinners and saved a ton of money. We didn't catch Covid.

Do you want the entire catering trade to go under? I don't, I had enough of cooking in lockdown!

Maybe I missed it, but I haven't read of a single infection or outbreak linked to restaurants, whereas plenty have been linked back to pubs (seem to remember a particular epic pub crawl which infected half Aberdeen ). And I really don't think the "crammed in" thing is fair - as someone who has eaten out plenty in August that hasn't been my experience. Ultimately the big infection risk is prolonged close proximity indoors. You are very unlikely to have that with anyone outside your own group in a restaurant, unless you give your order three inches from the waiter's face and taken ten minutes to do it, which I'm guessing you don't.

I gave my details every time and didn’t get a call

I didn’t feel it was that risky at all when there

"Our local town has no actual shops anymore"

A town that has no shops? None? Where is this @Bellesavage

I wouldn’t worry about paying it back. It’s a drop in the ocean. If a person did it every day they could, for 2 meals each day, they’d have had £260 paid for them by the government. Furlough was paid at up to £2500 Per month, for 6+ months. Research for the vaccine will be millions if not billions, testing can’t be cheap. £100 or so for anyone who ate out loads (and kept some restaurant staff in a job a bit longer and not claiming UC) really isn’t a big deal.

Only by stupid people, OP.

@GreenGoldRed

Disagree. All the evidence is that biggest spread of Covid-19 is within households - not from going to a pub/restaurant. I went to a couple of restaurants in August. All taking SD seriously, one way systems etc. It definitely helped footfall into the local town.

So we're told, but there's no reason to take our government's word for it. Does anyone really think they'd be likely to tell us if the data did in fact show that increased pub and restaurant attendance in August had let to more cases?

YANBU

I think in this case the government did the right thing, it got people engaging again. The issue of being spread in household I think is probably fair, as it’s easy to forget that anyone can be infected including our friends and family. However it has to come from somewhere and there is a lot of evidence pointing to young adults.

We ate out four times, three of those we sat outside and no one else wa sat at outside tables, just us.

We’re in uncharted waters here. This sodding bloody thing didn’t come with an instruction book.
Whatever the govt. do or don’t do (and I’m not a fan!) people are going to moan.
If the moaners think that they could have managed everything so much better, let’s hear exactly how they’d have done it, from March until now, complete with a guarantee that it would have worked that much better.

Cornwall was packed this summer, the busiest i ve ever seen it, yet despite full pubs and EOTHO CV cases haven't risen, indeed they are now falling as people pack up and go home.

A decent summer & everyone outdoors is possibly the reason? but why hasn't that helped much sunnier european countries?

However, EOTHO is a waste of money, people would have still have eaten out and what now? it was 13 days in August.

CV is apparently doubling every few days, so expect a harsh winter and a harsher spring as we won't have a vaccine and testing is an utter farce (just as we need it to control the upward trend) clearly beyond the competence of the Dido and the private sector.