How can the UK gov or anyone read this and not put the UK on lockdown?

[UnderReview]

The NHS won't. and shouldn't have to, cope with this...

Travel should have been stopped. Borders closed. People put in to lockdown.

ICU Doctor from Italy on current situation

Will putting this measure in place get rid of the virus?

You can’t put people and places in lockdown forever. People keep parroting this as some sort of solution but the lockdown period will end and people will go back to normal and the virus will still be there.

lockdown worked for china

The point of lockdown is to slow the spread - so hospitals can cope with the one in ten people who need intensive care beds

@IkeaSlave there is no benefit in 'taking this on the chin and letting it spread through the population'. The WHO advise against this approach. People do not get immunity once infected. Infection can be avoided if the proper methods are taken early enough... the UK is seriously running out of time. A one month lockdown could eradicate new cases, as happened in China.

At the moment the figures are so low it would be a ridiculous thing to do. 60 million locked down because of 300 cases - the vast majority of whom have been abroad or close contact with someone abroad.

Further measures will be introduced when and if the spread happens between people who haven’t been abroad or been close to someone who has.

I totally agree

People in China are used to living under authoritarian regimes. We are not. You will need an element of public support for these kind of draconian measures here or there could end up being riots, which we have already seen in not to distant memory that the authorities had trouble containing.

I also saw discussed on another thread that China could just be storing up problems as the slowdown now may lead to it peaking next winter, when here I understand they want it to peak in summer to minimise the impact on the NHS

I mean I agree that social distancing and closing borders are good ideas, but “excessive public monitoring of citizens”? Tell me how you think that will go here .

You can keep posting links, however, the government is not going to impose a month lock down across the UK. Aside from not being sensible, this would be impossible to enforce.

It's too late for lockdown to work to stop the virus spreading worldwide. It will reinfect China from the outside. Lockdown is now about managing the spread ie slowly. The initial lockdown was to contain. That hasn't worked, as you can see. It probably never would have done as people are asymptomatic during the contagious period.

The argument is that they are keeping their authoritarian powder dry until they have to. They are concerned that people would be lulled into a false sense of security if they did a two week general lockdown now and the virus re-emerged.
That's the theory as I understand it.

More people die because of drunk drivers. Are you going to ban the all road use and all alcohol consumption? Or do those lives not matter?

It’s about being sensible. Sensible people don’t get behind the wheel of a car if they’ve been drinking. And sensible people don’t go out into crowded areas with infections to cough all over people. There will always people who aren’t sensible. Nothing that can be done about those. But don’t penalize everyone else and force them to stop doing things they enjoy sensibly.

Any sane person can see this, but the government don't want this to happen. They stated their aim a few days ago saying they "aim" for 80% to contract the virus, at a low to moderate level.
Ok, sounds fine for those young fit and well, but look at what low to moderate actually means ito the virus. We're fucked, with some scientists reckoning there's 2k infected in UK already.
The economy and keeping the proles working is more important that protecting lives.
If you don't agree then you are on your own basically, as you are expected to just catch the virus for the good of capitalism.
Oh, and don't forget the childcare

Ok then, let’s go the full Chinese way and give the government Carte blanche to snoop on us and rewards for dobbing in our neighbours. What could possibly go wrong?

How about all the over the top freaked out people stay in lockdown at home ! Leave the rest of us to fend for ourselves in the real world. You can’t lock everything down like in China as other posters have said - we don’t live in a communist society! They can’t just lock us up

I heard a very eminent scientist on the radio making it clear that the govt had a choice between prioritising saving lives and saving the economy and that it is quite clear to him they have chosen to save the economy.

There's a sensible balance between full on china style lock down and an early introduction of social distancing measures which would smooth the peak of the epidemic. The govt aren't even going for that middle ground of social distancing for now and that is abhorrent.

If the economy tanks then many lives are lost anyway. Look at 1930s depression for example.

@LizzieSiddal the numbers are low and the majority confided to foreign travel or through close contact to those who have travelled as those are who the testing has been made available to. I think we have the possibility to see a huge jump in numbers Wednesday as from tomorrow people in intensive care, a+e who have presented with respiratory problems will now be tested. This has been denied thus far.

Has anyone read this though? Along with the link above, quite shocking....

www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/clinical-guidance-management-patients.html

What would your lock down look like OP?

A helpful illustration

I do think they should be closing all borders, yes it may be here but allowing more and more people to come and go as they please is not helping the situation. Tbh though it's the governments wet dreaming, the elderly, immune supressed, poor dying. They'll have a field day won't they when it spreads big time

Wet dream

Total overkill, will cause a serious dip in the economy and kill even more.

Never where did you hear that? I listened to a world expert on R4 today and he said he thought the govt we’re doing the right thing.