Gobsmacked by UK response

[Aspoonfullofjam]

Stay at home for one week if you’ve a cold (even though all evidence is that incubation is two weeks)

People over 70 don’t go on cruises.

WHAT!!!

134 new cases in a day and no action. 13 EU countries have closed all schools, another 11 partial closures but apparently no action needed in Uk.

Jesus.

People need to know they will still get paid. Mortgages and bills won't wait. Food needs to be paid for.

Having worked with Chris Whitty in a previous job, he is a seriously smart man and I trust both his professional judgement and his integrity.

I thought it was clear and sensible. If he'd have shut down schools from now til Easter this board would crash with the howls of outrage. Doctors and nurses have kids, if they close the schools then it's not just the economy that grinds to a halt.

Exactly which measures do people think the government should be introducing right now?

Not gonna lie, I'm freaking out.
I have an anxiety disorder and as of today I've decided to isolate myself for as long as possible. I'm on maternity leave and I get my shopping delivered so I'm lucky in that respect.
I know this is not a logical response as I'm not ill, but my mental health is just getting worse.

Surely it's right to acknowledge that most people will get it, how could that possibly be prevented?

It makes perfect sense to me that you time the more draconian measures to flatten out the peak, increasing the chances that those in most need will get appropriate medical help.

@JustVisiting9 unless they rely on benefits and have to turn up at the job centre or get sanctioned. Or cant afford the daily fine for taking a vulnerable child out of school. But perhaps those kind of vulnerable people aren't so important.

Experts or not, how can they predict when the peak will come when they don't have a better idea of the current level of infection?

China is a continent sized country, with endemic corruption and some serious poverty in parts. They've almost nipped it in the bud after three months. Despite also starting at a massive disadvantage

There were advantages and disadvantages in China. First off, the pandemic escaped their country, so that was a failure.

But it came at the start of the Chinese New Year, so the country was pretty much shut down for the week anyway. Extending that another 2-3 weeks is easier, when people are already in their rural hometowns and not as many people in urban areas.

Also, there are travel ‘roadblocks’ as such going into major cities so everyone has ID checked and whatnot, so this system was easily expanded upon. And as most people do not drive between cities, blocking train/plane travel is far easier.

It’s just a completely different setup that’s not really comparable.

But when the dust clears we will know what was ultimately effective. Too bad the learning curve involves such loss of life though

It's not that we think we know more than the experts, it's that the UK experts seem to be saying things contrary to the WHO and the experts in other countries.

@theflushedzebra - what are you suggesting? We all stay in for 4 months? Up to 80% of us could get this. Nothing can stop that. It's not if but when really. Its managing the peak in the meantime

I was shocked however when they explained it, I did feel a bit more understanding.

If they lock down now, then in a months time folk will be itching to get out etc when in theory it will be at its peak- because people are selfish (evidently stock piling and buying trolly fills of bog roll and the like)

If they kick it now then the economy will fall apart and that’s not to be taken lightly either.

It’s too far gone now to contain it. It will spread, but right now it’s not near the peak so I can understand why it’s business as usual for the short time.

If we go in to lockdown down it would need to be for months and people wouldn’t manage it.

If folk follow precautions then that should slow it down.

Also there needs to be a certain number of people catch I and get over it to start getting done type of herd protection.

It is scary but I can kind of see the reasoning why for now.

Some people on these threads are quite mad. Do they honestly think that Boris & co actively want people to die? And that Coronavirus is anything to do with the Tory party? Absolute insanity. And also people trumpeting about their grandma etc, as if no one else has an elderly relative or compromised spouse/child.

This virus is terrible, and I fear there is nothing that can be done. We just have to try to prevent hospitals being overwhelmed at the same moment. Obviously anyone who can be saved will be saved, but if someone is very old, then the unpalatable fact has to be accepted that they will not be a priority for treatment.

Wow, I'm really impressed at how many expert epidemiologists there are on MN.

I also find it amusing that so many of you think that Boris has decided on this policy totally alone, and with no consultation with health experts.

Patrick Vallance, the Chief Scientific Officer, explained that the aim is to try and delay the peak of the disease and then stretch it out over a longer period so the NHS is better able to deal with it. Vallance said that the UK was four weeks behind Italy in terms of the crisis and that the peak is still 10 to 14 weeks away. (This implies that Italy – where the hospitals are already horribly stretched – is still someway off its peak).

Chris Witty, the Chief Medical Officer, stressed that one of the reasons the UK was not moving to more dramatic measures – for example, telling all old people to self-isolate – was that if the UK moved now, then the public would tire of that at just the wrong moment. Some people argue that people will be happy to do whatever it takes to avoid this virus. But staying home for three months is no small thing and it is not hard to believe that people would tire of this in time.

As other countries move into lockdown or shut schools, there’ll be increasing questions about why the UK is not doing the same. But it is clear that the government takes the view that the most effective way to flatten the peak of this virus is not to move into lockdown yet.

It makes sense for vulnerable people to go into isolation for weeks, or even months, but how on earth will it work if everyone does?

Yes also gobsmacked

Boris's balls are clearly in use elsewhere

Now if I were a cynic, I'd be thinking that this coronavirus is rather neatly solving Boris' dilemma of an ageing population and lack of funding in the NHS - short term pain for longterm gain whatnot....

I can understand the science on a population level. On a personal level I stand to lose eight elderly relatives with underlying health conditions. So I’m struggling to appreciate the economics of the situation.

Are they going to stop testing people or not? I was under the impression they were increasing their testing ability?

Child in my family has loads of serious life threatening risks to her health anytime of year.
Mum kept her off school last week or so as she got viral infection had to have antibiotics as precaution
School eventually authorised this absence but will be expecting her in next week more so now after this bloody announcement.
Maybe they should have said healthy people go but high risk with autoimmune conditions start now
I really dont know, but I know her mum will not be sending her in to school so will probably get taken to court, dont know why we are always different to other country's.

Not to be unkind but there's also a reasonable chance they've all caught it from their health minister ...

Funny how everyone is so reassured by our scientists who have come to this decision, when the experts in practically every other country with an outbreak disagree. But ours are clearly cleverer.

I feel like I am in a bad dream.

They are tories what do you expect.

They want to cut the tax bill and this will do that quicker than any tax cut ever dreamed up.

So we can look forward to at least another 13-14 weeks of this taking us up to July.

If you think you have coronavirus - stay home.. don't seek help!

Unbelievable.

I have to say that I am genuinely shocked at the plan of the government to let people die. Because that's what it is.
You can build up herd immunity on a slower scale. You can send people to work from home and close schools for a while in order to slow down the progress of the virus and gradually build up the herd immunity. Current approach is simply about the survival of the fittest and let the weak ones die. While I can understand it when I stop thinking about them as humans and think about them as white mice, from a humane point of view, this is really awful.

It's not that we think we know more than the experts, it's that the UK experts seem to be saying things contrary to the WHO and the experts in other countries

This. And Boris Johnson, nor the experts, did not offer up a coherent response as to why our response differs so fundamentally from other countries.

We're not stupid, or arrogant. We don't think we 'know better than the experts' as mentioned upthread. We can simply see how our response seems to greatly resemble 'doing nothing' as opposed to other countries who believe the opposite will save lives.

And let's not be disingenuous. This the Tory party and Boris Johnson. They are - by nature - monstrously dismissive of millions of people and he is a fucking liar.