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?

@TheMagiciansMewTwo it's not really up to us whether we use transport etc though is it? It's up to our employers.

I cannot work from home right now and my employers have said that those choosing to self isolate or WFH who haven't been ill, been to a high risk country or in contact with someone who has will face disciplinary action.

I don't want to lose my job... it took me years of training to get it

Sunshine has nailed it. Well said.

The trouble is we always put the poxy economy before everything else.

The economy that pays benefits and funds the nhs.

A note on Italy. Rimini/Riccione is the second home choice for Milan and Bologna. As others have said, the North was locked down, everyone shipped out to Rimini, and lo and behold that was the next hotspot.

A further note on Boris. He is not making decisions by himself. He is being guided by experts, Chief Medical Officer et al. That's how these things work. He is just the mouthpiece at the moment, so no point in blaming him, however much we may all want to.

So what exactly is the point then? And why is the Italian infection/death rate still going up?

Those regions which were originally locked down are beginning to see the benefit and have had a reduction is cases.

Although that was on Guardian Live this morning and I can't be fussed with going through it all to find the link.

And there are still international flights out of Italy. So clearly they’re not actually that anxious to stop the spread of the virus, just not within their own country.

First infections diagnosed in SA over the weekend after Italian tourists landed there.

more people are being tested in Italy. The difference is that.
People will be dying and effected here and no one knows.

IKEA888
?
I think someone will notice if somebody dies. I would expect all unexplained deaths from illness will be checked for Covid 19.

The experts know that the infection rate is higher than the number of identified cases because some people will have mild symptoms and probably think it is a cold. It happened with Swine Flu.

I asked my very clever Italian colleague today why numbers are so high and she said there has been testing on a massive scale and a movement of people from N to S.

I'm sure they announced after the Cobra meeting that they would test all those in ICU and anyone in hospital with respiratory symptoms.

How would we be missing cases that cause death if that is happening?

I heard it could be because Italians use more hard cash than we do which has helped to spread the virus.

Advice please.
My husband has been sent home from home as someone from his office (a floor down) has been diagnosed with C19.
They have not shared offices but perhaps lifts and stairs.
Should we both be going to parents evening tonight?

Yeah, and other people have heard it's because we all kiss each other all the time.
Next thing it will be because we all go round shouting mamma Mia and putting horses heads in people's beds.
Most people use cash in bars. Most old people use cash. Big supermarket shop? Most people pay by card. We've even got Amazon!

Cozy - has he been sent home and asked to isolate ? Or not considered at risk, but office is closed for cleaning ? If the former you probably shouldn’t go to parents’ evening. In your place I wouldn’t go, not worth the small risk.

Rather big assumption that Italy has done the right thing in shutting down. It's a massive politically motivated move and not about what is best for the people. Also, Italy has the most aged population in Europe so a much higher proportion of people are at risk.

I noticed Italy is ahead of Iran in terms of deaths, I wonder what Iran is doing better?

I wouldn’t trust the numbers coming out of Iran

Touchy much @BookMeOnTheSudExpress?

sirvix Thank you.
Yes he's been sent home for self isolation.
The office has been closed.
He didn't go to parents evening in the end as better to be safe than sorry!

My workplace has just announced we are all to WFH for the next 2 weeks. The announcement was at 3pm today, along with all meetings to be cancelled or by skype.

Johnson May be the mouthpiece but he's hopeless. Not a jot of empathy. He just looks and sounds bored and out of his depth with actual experts and not smart arses like him.
No leadership.

Will the internet cope with all this working from home?

Sensible Cozy, I am sure the teachers will be grateful. I am mulling over whether we should go to a parents’ evening this week, all those people in one room, seems unwise now.

Our office's IT infrastructure struggled today with the upsurge of people working from home. Including me. They did some sort of fix . We'll see tomorrow.

Why are some people still not realising the seriousness of it all? Have all the movies made us numb to reality?