Cobra meeting

[Hugglespuffed]

When will we find out the info for the cobra meeting please?

So if they come out of this meeting saying “keep calm and carry on “ what’s your plan? If you’ve got kids will you keep them home? Go to large events or cancel? Let kids go on school trips in or out of uk? I’ve got all of the above to consider. I don’t fancy a penalty notice/criminal record from my local authority over school attendance but I don’t fancy my asthmatic kids catching this either- no school would help x

I'm pretty sure the government will not close schools. They will wait for Easter break then review after those two weeks.

Plus I’m thinking if people are being encouraged to work from home to reduce spread, children should too. I’m on the edge of just keeping mine home and dealing with what they say x

But no where else in the UK (cities included) is as packed and dirty as London is it?

You really need to do a tour of the UK if you think its just London that is like that!

The problem is, it's very hard to keep other places staffed/running if children are off school. We'd need some kind of community childcare, which would defeat the purpose.

I'm pretty sure the government will not close schools. They will wait for Easter break then review after those two weeks

I agree, although I think it would be a mistake. The landscape is changing too quickly for that to be much of a crowd-pleaser. People will start withdrawing their DC anyway.

Perhaps some relaxation of the rules around temporary homeschooling might be forthcoming. I don't think schools should close, but parents should be afforded some autonomy.

@tud41 she can't go on a tour of the UK 😳 spreading the corona all over

But no where else in the UK (cities included) is as packed and dirty as London is it?

Just shows the folly of concentrating too much in such a small place over the last few decades. Perhaps once it's all over, people will finally realise how stupid it is for everything to be so London centric and we can start spreading out the decent jobs etc throughout the regions again, like it used to be!

My local Chinese gave me a light hearted giggle with a free corona on any order :]

Perhaps some relaxation of the rules around temporary homeschooling might be forthcoming

I really don't think that's the issue here, how many parents are going to start homeschooling at the drop of a hat? I do think you're slightly missing the bigger picture.

Update: announced nothing will change

I suspect it will be -

• wash your hands
• don't panic, most people will just have a minor illness
• supermarkets have enough goods, don't panic buy
• businesses should consider letting employees work from home

So in other words nothing extra to what is already happening.

BBC just said we remain in the contain phase after the cobra meeting.

Glad they discussed for all of two hours

I really don't think that's the issue here, how many parents are going to start homeschooling at the drop of a hat? I do think you're slightly missing the bigger picture

No, I'm not. I offered a view as to one possibility of what might transpire as a result of the meeting, not my opinion on it.

London really needs so much better measures for this.

God forbid anybody should contract the virus in big, important London, eh?

F* the rest of us though..

My god

@CoolcoolcoolcoolcoolNoDoubt People worry about London because it’s massively crowded. It also is the most densely populated area of the U.K. The tube is a fantastic place to spread this thing, it’s used by millions every day all day. People travel to and from London into the rest of the U.K. in massive numbers daily. I don’t think for one minute anybody the capital would like to see any area at all get an outbreak. People are looking at London in terms of the risk it’s enormous amounts of inhabitants and massive amounts of visitors pose to the rest of the country.

Perhaps some relaxation of the rules around temporary homeschooling might be forthcoming

I certainly won't be home schooling my 13 year old. We both have full time jobs here and can do them from home. I'm also in no way qualified to do this, unless he wants to sit next to me whilst I work and learn my job (poor sod!!).

No, I'm not. I offered a view as to one possibility of what might transpire as a result of the meeting, not my opinion on it

OK, I misunderstood and I see that the results have now been announced so no need to speculate anymore but I really hope cabinet meetings concentrate on the pressing issues. I've also seen people mention school absence rules as a problem, if we have 1000s of citizens dying who cares about absence fines and home schooling rules?

www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/mar/09/coronavirus-live-updates-outbreak-italy-lockdown-quarantine-uk-usa-america-australia-recession-fears-update-latest-news#block-5e66412a8f085f0b8d944e91

I find The Guardian good for latest news- and the news is....wash your hands! Again! Even if you are elderly, don't stay home, go out. No cancelling of anything whatsoever. Wash your hands.

That's it!

Even worse, surveys show the Brits are the worst in Europe for not washing their hands. It's not even like people are going to do that.

They'll do nothing but continue on their plan for 80% of us to be affected mildly to moderately, so pneumonia for all, death for those who can't fight it.
Survival of the fittest, seems to be the message. Keep on going until you drop, basically.
Self isolate if you can afford to, wash your hands, and carry on if you can't afford to stop.
They won't close schools, childcare init.

Number 10 said it accepted that the virus "is going to spread in a significant way"

Well if they're not even going to try and combat it then yes, of course it is! I understand there would be a big economic impact to the measures China and Italy have had to take, but why not at least encourage people to work from home where possible, for example?

yep, nothing to see here. Carry on working and spending. Wash hands more.

Would be v interested to know what plans politicians have re: themselves and their own families as they presumably aren't all immune to it...

God forbid anybody should contract the virus in big, important London, eh? F the rest of us though..
Of course London is a special case. It is way more densely-populated, has way more commuters going in and out on a daily basis, has way more tourists etc, etc. If that's not reason enough, it also has the highest number of confirmed cases in the UK so far, so it's in everyone's interests to try to contain things.
I do not live in London, by the way, but don't struggle to see why it's different from most other parts of the country. All large cities should be treated as special cases IMO.