So surely now is the moment for the UK to shut down?

[littleblackdress04]

All the info I have read online indicates that the UK is probably 2 weeks behind Italy in terms of infection. So rather than wait until the horse has proverbially bolted, wouldn’t it make more sense to shut down now and stop a massive spread of coronavirus?

I think everyone is aware of the seriousness but closing down the UK is economic disaster and not necessarily the right answer particularly with the loss of key employees who will then need to be at home with their DC’s.

Yes it’s serious but .

Nature fights back and shows us how pointless we are.

And possibly started by pangolins.

Oh the delicious irony.

I think they are waiting on stockpiling body bags. There's nowhere to put the dead yet.
Also, they could be struggling to sign up volunteers/ recently retired who aren't taking too well to being guilt tripped "for country" into putting their own lives at risk.

Why would we need a stock pile of body bags to lock down the country?

Honestly, there is some very irrational thinking on display here.

@cozy well if he is supposed to be self isolating then he shouldnt be even leaving the house so why ask ?

@TheMagiciansMewTwo We are in the containment phase. Expert advice has been taken and followed.

At what point do you reckon schools will actually be asked to close?

I must admit that last night I had an urge to just keep dd off of school
But dh says wait for instruction from govt

Yes, of course self isolating means not going out for 14 days, a lot of people will ignore advice, they will be the first be moan. Bloke on BBC breakfast Monday, 67, diabetic, lung,heart problems, says hes isolating himself, is part-retired, can work from home, has a study bigger than my lounge,his own bedroom and en suite, we arent all that lucky.

There seems to be several levels of self isolating though, and I think this is where the confusion lies.

Self Isolate when confirmed with Coronavirus - Stay in and away from everyone, everyone in house also in isolation.

Self Isolate when coming back from red zone - Stay in and away from everyone, but everyone else in house allowed to go out.

Self Isolate because you feel a bit under the weather - Stay in as much as possible but can potter about, go for a walk, keep distance.

Self Isolate because you have your own health issues - Keep you distance from everyone, but you can still go out and about.

I don't know if the rules are that specific, Baaaaaaaaaahh.

I was wondering if major cities might shut down. Would that help?

But what does it mean for a city to "shut down". I live in small town 17 miles from work (little city). if little city "shuts down" will I be locked out of going to work, but folk who live in the city can still go to work?

Even folk who live in northern Italy but who work in Switzerland are being allowed to cross the border daily to go to work.

‘Containment’ 🤣🤣🤣

Seems the term is applied rather loosely by the government we have a local school with a case which isn’t closing, cleaning or isolating any contacts they are all allowed to just go in still
Nothing is being ‘contained’

Denmark is closing down. All public institutions are closing on monday for 2 weeks except critical workers ie medical staff and police officers. Private sector encouraged to work from home where possinle. Cultural institutions like libraries are closing.

My economics is primitive, but here goes my crude understanding...
Private sector generates all the wealth. Us public sector (or charity sector) workers are just leeches.

It's easy to say "Private sector" is non-essential, but private sector literally pays for everything else to happen. Private sector is what generates the actual growth & wealth. Shutting down the private sector can cripple the public sector before long.

So tell me I'm wrong & private sector is not the backbone of the economy.

Well for a start the private sector depends on the public sector to do things like give it an educated workforce, roads to drive its vehicles on, infrastructure in general to do business in, a health service to keep the workforce well, police to stop crime and protect their businesses, firefighters etc. etc. The private sector depends an awful lot on a good public sector.

As for the short term implications of shutting one over the other for some particular length of time - that I don't know but the consequences of closing anything suddenly are going to be awful - but maybe the lesser of two evils in some situations.

It's easy to say "Private sector" is non-essential, but private sector literally pays for everything else to happen. Private sector is what generates the actual growth & wealth. Shutting down the private sector can cripple the public sector before long

I disagree. There is a symbiotic relationship between the two.

The public sector tends to do the things that the private won’t do well or effectively, it provides protection and regulation. The private sector cannot function without the public sector.

The 2008 banking crisis is an extreme case in point.

To all the "shut up and listen to the experts" commenters....

Most of the experts think the actions of the UK government are nuts. The WHO have basically told us off in public.

When Boris talks about experts and science, it is worth noting that Boris is relying heavily upon "behavioural scientists". Here is a member of the committee managing the outbreak response speaking about what they are doing: "“We’re trying, in a way that hasn’t been done before, to use all the tools to hand: medical and mathematical but also behavioral,” said David Halpern, head of the government’s Behavioral Insights Team and a member of the committee managing the outbreak response."

"in a way that hasn’t been done before"

You mean... not evidence-based?????

I could actually cry. Richard Horton, the editor of the Lancet, has written some pretty scathing tweets lately.

This is worth a read: medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca

Here is Horton extolling virtues of buses, 6 days ago.
3 days after he tweeted how the govt needed to take drastic action.
He's apparently out & about.
Whatever social-distancing means to Horton, whatever measures he wants people & govt to do, those measures allow you to ride the bus, be on the streets & stand close next to people without PPE on.

Here is Horton extolling virtues of buses, 6 days ago.
3 days after he tweeted how the govt needed to take drastic action.
He's apparently out & about.
Whatever social-distancing means to Horton, whatever measures he wants people & govt to do, those measures allow you to ride the bus, be on the streets & stand close next to people without PPE on.

Oh... and go to meetings about non-urgent matters.

soz re double post...

We’re trying, in a way that hasn’t been done before, to use all the tools to hand

Jesus fucking wept. This is quite an experiment

Now is not the time to experiment. I guess we are special though and immune to disease (and evidence based research and common sense).

The moment Johnson advocated shaking hands I knew we were in trouble (well, to be fair, the moment Johnson was elected).