So U.K. is now stopping testing people unless hospitalised.

[VivaLeBeaver]

So surely our figures will drop? Boris will be able to say he’s made the right course of action and be smug?

Nobody will have a clue about the real picture which means we are less likely to move to the banning mass events/closing schools stage which Means it will just spread even more?

Am I missing something?

I could understand stopping testing the less serious if hospitals were overwhelmed but didn’t think we were at that stage yet?

Are the royal kids still going to school?

When you read about people with this disease suddenly becoming very ill the advice to just stay at home is very worrying. We will undoubtedly have alot of deaths at home. This is maybe what they want as they dont have enough intensive care beds.

He’s not just listening to medics. He’s also listening to behavioural “scientists” which is the worry.

Regardless of who he is or isn't listening to, he does not have dictatorship levels of power. BJ is not the sole decision maker, not by a long shot.

What exactly do people think the benefit of more testing would be? Sure, we would get more accurate statistics but that's about it. The downside is not just the provision of test kits but staff to use them and facilites to conduct tests in. Everyone with so much as a sniffle, or just anxiety, would be flooding surgeries and hospitals demanding to be tested and retested and tested again no doubt. It would consume vital healthcare resources that can be much better used elsewhere. If you suspect you have the virus then self-isolate, you don't need a test to make that decision.

The NHS won't cope if the numbers are like Italy

Surely all the more reason for closing schools, etc

But babdoc. There are teenagers who will die of this 0.2% thats lot across a country....
And what if this does damage kids lungs or kidneys or fertility. ??

I work in the NHS (not frontline) and we need all our nursing staff to be available to work. Not at home looking after children.

Exactly @CoronaVera

Didn't they say that they had developed capacity to test 10,000 people a day? What happened to that? Or are they envisioning having to use those 10,000 daily tests on the 'worst' cases in hospital?

If we cocoon elderly we are leaving working 50-60yo to die and maybe even younger plus parents.

It's not just school though babdoc.
What about brownie groups, swimming lessons, ballet etc. All little groups where not just the children but parents wait together. All these types of groups should be stopped. My husband does archery , @50 people at a competition, all lined up virtually touching on the line. Inside at this time of year. Mostly men , woman 60 plus.
The government dont care , they will benefit in paying less pensions out.

I've had a cough I've been putting down to something setting off my asthma for almost a week now. Am I know supposed to isolate? I don't get it

You WILL get ill though when you catch if from your kids (eyeroll!!). How exactly does that help.or you kid will have it asymptomatically so you then spread it to all non infected patients. Idiotic!!!! You are most contagious before symptoms!!!
You cannot go against all known science and proven by china and italy and still think uk knows best. The whole world dont agree

Hospital labs have been massively downsized over the last 10 years. That's why there's not enough capacity to extend testing. There's no slack in the system. Labs are barely coping with their normal workload. Trouble is back room work doesn't hit the headlines like cuts in nursing numbers or hospital beds so the slashing of these services has gone unnoticed.

If we cocoon elderly we are leaving working 50-60yo to die and maybe even younger plus parents. I am not sure that cocooning the elderly is going to make it more virulent in those available to spread it amongst ?

The way I rationalise it is that they are monitoring the hospital population which is the key issue as well as using those figures to project estimated numbers across the whole country.

600 ish tested positive; they think around 5000 - 10000 actually have it / have had it (if I remember their numbers correctly.)

They've used stats collected from
Other counties.

If we rely on testing we aren't self isolating. Basically, if you feel hot and cough, assume you have it and slow the spread.

I've had a cough I've been putting down to something setting off my asthma for almost a week now. Am I know supposed to isolate? I don't get it

Yy, the soaps we've got are actually aggravating my asthma and I've been coughing. I need to get some scent free ones. I also had aches and chills on Tuesday but Dh has developed a sniffle which I think I've fought off. But I recognise the cough as different; I know the feeling of a viral induced cough, my lungs feel inflamed and itchy and I wake in the night with it.

I’m assuming it’s more of a bronchial type of cough not a tickly cough?

I’m not sure why there is no current plan to increase isolation, acute medical and intensive care facilities across the country. They only plan seems to be to persuade retired healthcare professionals back into work. That won’t generate additional beds.
We could be upskilling current staff to manage higher levels of care.
We could be identifying escalation beds above the BAU escalation beds. We could be designating some community hospitals as sites for managing patients and equipping them appropriately.
Instead we are suggesting over 60s or people with say, diabetes, wont get an ITU admission.
Not best planning.

Need for getting rid of misinformation on sm - aka the truth.

You call your paranoid, conspiracy theorist nonsense the truth? Get a grip. People like you trying to stoke fear and panic are as big a problem as the virus itself.

He’s not just listening to medics. He’s also listening to behavioural “scientists” which is the worry.

Actually, I thought the press conference made it fairly clear that "the medics" are taking account of behavioural science, and that Boris is taking account of the medics' advice.

The Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty, is both a medical doctor and an epidemiologist. The behaviour and treatment of viruses is his area of expertise.

The Chief Scientist, Sir Patrick Vallance, is both a medical doctor and a pharmacologist. The development of medicines and vaccines is his area of expertise.

I think that means they know what they are talking about. That doesn't mean I'm not worried. It does mean that the experts are in charge and that Boris - whatever you may think of him - is giving them the headroom to do their jobs. This is a crisis above mere politics.

Need for getting rid of misinformation on sm - aka the truth

How do you know it’s the truth? What information do you have that we don’t? Or are you just cleverer than the rest of us? What evidence do you have, other than conspiracy theories?
Yes, the situation is awful. People are dying. But what use is it spending our time writing hysterical conspiracy theories on social media? How is it helping anyone?
Isolate you and your family if you choose. Don’t leave your house. That is the best way to protect yourselves from it. But the scaremongering has to stop. People still have to live their lives. People have to put a roof over their children’s heads. So many people don’t have the choice to just not go to work.

To the PPs who want to see schools closed - who do you think is going to provide child care? Do you want thousands of NHS nurses having to stay off work to mind their kids?
Or are you happy for their vulnerable grandparents to take them and risk dying?
And we’d have to close them for 3 months to have anything more than a temporary reduction in cases.
I’m glad Boris is listening to the medical advisors and not making silly knee jerk responses to gain popularity and look like he’s “doing something”.

All measures, including those in China and Italy are reactive not proven.

Whether putting China on lockdown will only become apparent within the next few weeks now that restrictions have been relaxed. It is in fact estimated that China will have another spike in infections and that lockdown will be considered to have been done too soon.

The infection rate in Italy is fast increasing, so lockdown is clearly not having a great effect there.

If you lockdown the UK too early people will develop fatigue and will be less likely to comply when it really becomes necessary.

The testing protocols is the same as with other viruses. It was the same with Swine flu - if you had symptoms then you would be assumed to have swine flu.

And people talking about this being just a hit to the economy have no idea. There will be hundreds of thousands of job losses if we obliterate the economy over this. Nurseries, childminders etc will go out of business meaning many working parents will have to give up long term to stay at home with their DC. Many NHS workers will have children so they will have to take time out to look after those as workplace nurseries/childcare facilities will also close.

People will end up in serious debt, mental health issues will get worse, and there will be deaths, because of suicide, because of the impact of poverty etc etc.

Let’s not play down the impact on the economy

Just the other day they announced they would increase testing from 1500 a day to 10000 and now they are saying they will only test people in hospital.
No wonder we are all confused with this changing information, different measures in different countries, conflicting advice etc.