Boris is trying to kill off the old and infirm

[CoronLona]

"you will loose loved ones". Get over it. We are not taking any action to stop it. The old and vulnerable will die. 80% of us will catch coronavirus.

I do not like these messages. It's like he doesn't care about the elderly or vulnerable at all.

Is he trying to kill them off to make some savings in the NHS? It certainly feels like it.

AIBU to make this assumption?

Everything @Newname4now says. Why are we special here in the UK? How is Boris doing all he can @Tootletum when around the world countries are doing a hell of a lot more? This isn't political. Labour are a complete mess and aren't exactly stepping up to challenge his decisions.

I say again, if the schools don't close, who looks after the children when their parents (or teachers) get sick?

Wouldn’t old and infirm include boris?

@tryingtoprep well I asked you first and you’re not answering with regards to NHS parents/ vulnerable grandparents looking after children?!

@Samtsirch exactly! Plus his parents, and he has a pregnant fiancé.

I did see the press conference yes.
There is so much more that could be done to plan ahead, particularly in relation to taking pressure off of public services, e.g nightclubs, how many drunk people will end up in a&e this Friday night?
As an aside, I think it reasonable to suggest that the many hundreds of thousands of nursing and residential care homes up and down the country don't have residents with the highest voting turn out. I guess BJ did say he would sort out social care....

YANBU. Bojo has his faults, but that is an accusation too far, IMO.

He is in a very difficult position and will be criticised no matter what he does. He also has an elderly father who he appears to be quite fond of, and his partner is pregnant, so I'm sure he is probably worried about his own family, who may also be vulnerable if this virus is not slowed. No wonder he is looking a lot more serious lately, and seems to have aged several years in a week. Time will tell as to whether his decisions were the right ones, but at this stage we just have to take care of ourselves, and each other, while hoping that our government is doing what it can to mitigate this crisis.

If you want to point the finger of blame, try pointing it at the Chinese market traders who were trading live, wild animals illegally, in squalid and cruel conditions - those practices created the conditions for this virus to transmit from animals to humans. They have blood on their hands (literally in some cases), but maybe some of those who caused the problem are dead themselves now. I really hope China and other countries will take heed from this awful lesson that nature has sent, namely that cruelty to animals eventually has repercussions for mankind too.

I fucking hate Boris Johnson and everything the tories stand for. I've never voted for them and I don't trust that they have ever had the best interests of the electorate at heart.

However I (for once in my life) firmly agree with BoJo and the measures he has taken. It seems like he's followed sensible advice rather than made grand gestures that have a very limited effect. I don't for one minute think this is because he cares about the well-being of the elderly and vulnerable. But I do believe that he sees this as his 'Churchill moment' and is determined to get the country through this as well as we possibly can for his own ego and reputation if nothing else.

Oh, Ffs.

Far from a fan of a guy but if bat shit were lethal, we'd all be done for.

Yup, totally deranged

As Newname4now suggested, we keep schools open only for children of NHS workers. That massively reduces the amount of contact, less children so less spread. Also plenty of people don't have grandparents to help in the first place. They live too far away, don't get on, grandparents no longer alive. They have to find other solutions. What are other countries doing? They've all closed schools. This is an extraordinary circumstance. Things aren't going to be as they are normally. Temporary disruption will happen. All we can do is mitigate - and choose to put lives above someone's inconvenience. We're all going to be inconvenienced one way or another. We can choose inconvenience because the schools closed or inconvenience because the parents or teachers are I'll or in hospital (or dead). I prefer the former.

*I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t have a vulnerable person in their family. We are all in the same boat. Your post is ridiculous and unhelpful.

No the prime minister doesn’t want people to die. What a stupid fucking thing to say. People will die. But this is what we are all facing. He’s being led by the experts. Who also don’t want people to die but recognise that many will. Please don’t poison the well by attributing base and even murderous motives to people working incredibly hard in an awful situation.

Yes they might be wrong. But you sure as hell don’t have access to better expertise than the government does - although you might think you do because of what you’ve read on social media - and your post suggests your judgement is significantly worse.*

Exactly this.

I’ve also been reading tonight about malaria after a segment on Sports Relief. A preventable and curable disease that kills 400000 people a year. How many people losing their shit over CV give a shit about any of them? A sense of bloody perspective is required. No one wants anyone to die and I really hope as much as anyone this gets got a grip on to save as many lives as possible but why would we be immune from awful diseases that kill lots of people.

And I can’t stand Boris and the Tories

I think there is a lot of logic to my views. There are certain at risk groups who very scarily and sadly are more likely to die.... so if they do how can BJ be held accountable?
As for his personal circs, I don't know if he is concerned for his nearest and dearest, most likely I would assume, but this is a man with a neck of brass, how personally touchable do you think he feels?

@jasjas1973 you do realise that what vaccination does is mimic the disease and encorage an immune response? The same effect can be achieved by fit and strong people encountering it naturally.

@tryingtoprep a hell of a lot of parents at DCs school work for the NHS. A lot of parents work for the NHS. So do you want them taken out of the workforce? Or should the children go to grandparents (if available)
You copy Ireland and have childcare available for the children of NHS workers. It’s not difficult!

@tryingtoprep what about the teachers who have children? Where do their children go? It’s not that simple. And re grandparents, I am aware. My DC don’t have any.

"If blame must be apportioned, where was the WHO in the last 30-odd years pressuring countries that have wet markets, eat bush-meat or trade in wild animals? AIDS, Ebola, MERS, SARS and now the new Coronavirus have all had their genesis in such practices. It was inevitable that this would happen one day, there should have been international pressure way before now to curtail such dangerous and calamitous behaviour."

@ILikeyourHairyHands exactly, you said what I was trying to say, but so much better.

We also created a nasty disease in the UK, by feeding animal derivatives to cattle, which resulted in Mad Cow Disease. That was an unnatural practice, which turned cattle into carnivores, and it was driven by human greed for profit/cheap meat. Humans need to learn that messing with nature and inflicting cruelty on animals is harmful to humans as well, long term.

@MyDcAreMarvel so these people who are looking after the NHS workers children. What about their families? Are they immune? What happens when they get ill? It’s not difficult? It’s not easy either.

And yes, if you look and listen to all the jingoistic stuff about us being an island nation, we're still a little bit behind. There's some consideration that Ireland shot its load too early.

@Newname4now well
I have to agree with you on the point you raised about a&e and e.g. drunk
People on a Friday night.

I want the government to keep with their very sensible policy.
If my mum gets it she will die,all the family know it as does she,she is also of an age where she would not be treated if she got to the respiratory distress stage because it wouldn't help and would deny someone more likely to survive the chance of treatment.
If the peak is too big the choice of who to treat becomes very practical (the Drs that are forced to make these choices,patients and relatives will all be upset and angry at this stage).If we can flatten the curve more people that may need intensive treatment stand a chance of receiving it.
A lot of people still seem be under the misaprehension that shutting school with stop the virus completely and are blocking their ears to the FACT that people will get this virus,many will die as we have no immunity.

@ LuckyAmy1986 it’s far from an ideal situation but it’s vastly better than keeping schools open.

I don't think Boris is going to be affected by every individual death, but I also don't feel he actually wants old people to die.

If we can flatten the curve more people that may need intensive treatment stand a chance of receiving it.
The curve won’t flatten by doing absolutely nothing!
The plan is let the sick and vulnerable die in the hope of saving the majority.

I am an NHS worker. I am also worried about the police, fire, bin men, funeral services, water, sewerage, electric, gas, food supply plus I am sure many more.