Do you reckon the uk will go into an official lockdown?

[orangedasies]

Just that really. I understand theirs a lot of suggesting going on but will they officially make people stay in or take responsibility?

I think that they will need to enforce it quite quickly and also bring in measures to stop this panic buying because lack of nutritious food and basic hygiene products will damage people’s health just as much as CV.

So many people live their lives through reality TV, Netflix, Instagram etc that I think they’re brains are set to a mode where their actions don’t affect others and they’re totally unaware of much outside of their own little bubble.

Our neighbour is having a big Birthday party on Saturday, around 80 people (if they come) has his marquee up ready....popped round last night to check we were still going and very put out when we told him we’re isolating so would not!

@bingbangbing why not? That's exactly what we should be doing. It's not about what we want to do or would normally do, it's about taking precautions and minimising risk.

My eighty year old mother is coming for tea tonight. Not going to bar the door

Just be aware the encounter may kill her.

I've heard "as long as the pub's are open I'll be going" today.
From an arsehole who shares a house with his ill mother who's in her 80s.
I think the government will give idiots like that enough rope to hang themselves. Then I think we'll get an official lock down. Not a bad thing IMO.

@bingbangbing
China has been on a fullscale national lockdown for nearly two months. No school, no work (for at least 95% of the population). Nothing but a weekly/biweekly run to the shops for one adult per family.
As a result they’ve had “only” perhaps 200,000 infections. (that’s more than doubling the official figure).
The UK has been talking about dealing with 50+ million infections

Yes the announcement last night was to soften the blow of a forced lockdown. Schools ARE readying themselves for closure because as staff go off on self-isolation who will look after the kids there anyway?

I’m most worried about how NHS workers, who are essential at the moment, are being treated. Having to do scan on patients unmasked, and they then find out that a patient they worked on tested positive. Yet the staff are still not being sent home, still working on other patients, still not tested, still not masked. We are not dealing with this properly. These staff will go home and spread to their children, who will go to school and spread it there.

Until ALL NHS staff and carers mask up then we will surely be spreading it FROM hospitals and so there is no point in lockdown anyway.

“Just be aware the encounter may kill her.” Well, this encounter may not, but any between now and the next few weeks could. It’s very hard but people need to get used to it and not be the violinists playing on the Titanic as it sinks!!

But there is no point.

The virus is here. Most of us have probably been exposed so limiting contact seems pointless to me.

Pandemics always peak and fall away. Nobody instituted lockdown when the plague hit, but it went away.

What's likely to keep the death rate down, is the fact that most of us are well fed and have received good medical care from childhood.

These half-hearted measures will just cause needless, economic damage.

Lockdown may have helped, several weeks ago.

From what I have seen today of the government want older people to isolate they are going to have to been more forceful about it.

I live on a main road in a small town so I look down on the street - today there’s has been a noticeable lack of younger people and children (fewer school children etc) but the town is still bustling with people who look 50 and up. It seems the exact OPPOSITE to what was suppose to be happening . Younger people seem to have stayed away and children based businesses are shut. Older people are going about as normal - the cafe across the road which is generally older people is bustling where soft plays etc are shut

Speaking to my older relatives they seem to be in total denial about what is going on I have no idea why.

Yes as people and businesses have been given the chance to act sensibly. Aside from obstinate behaviour from over 70s the amount of people thinking social interaction doesn't cover yoga etc is obscene.

Why?

Because they have seen this before, maybe?

Yes I think so. I have been out a walk to get out the house but not have direct contact with people ( toddler climbing the walls!!).
I saw no fewer people in local cafes hairdressers than usual!! I think it will have to be enforced and yes I know that may mean walks too but was hoping if people avoided crowded indoor venues it would be left that people could still be out in the fresh air....

Yes. People aren’t abiding by the guidance at all. We will need to enforce it.

It's inevitable, we are much later than any other country in trying to control the outbreak.
We'll be worse hit than Italy as they have more hospital beds per person than we have.
Some are saying the 250k death rate is conservative.

In morocco there are 38 cases, however everything is shut. Schools, malls, gyms, cinemas, markets etc. The only thing open is shops to get food. No flights in or out.

Oh and banks, phone shops, bill shops and pharmacies are open but only one person allowed in at a time.

I work in a supermarket. A very small one that doesn't do deliveries in a very rural area. We are rammed with customers at the moment, it's like Christmas.

I'm not sure how we can lockdown. A lot of older people don't have/cant use computers for internet shopping for which there aren't any delivery slots anyway. So people are still going to have to go to the shops. Which they will do, en masse, because they have to eat (and buy fags...). So do we lockdown, shut the shops and starve people out, or keep shops open where EVERYONE is congregating because they are all so worried panic buying by everyone else will mean they can't get food (and fags!)?

Just a question. How are other countries handling necessary shopping?

The virus is here. Most of us have probably been exposed so limiting contact seems pointless to me.Pandemics always peak and fall away. Nobody instituted lockdown when the plague hit, but it went away.

Probably one of the stupidest comments on this thread. THe plague killed millions of people. No-one had a clue about viruses or even hand washing then. They didn’t have the knowledge to prevent those deaths. We do. We just aren’t equipped NHS wise to deal with the potential numbers. Hence trying to stem the flow. So there IS a point.

Yes, sadly probably inevitable because there are so many selfish arrogant pillocks out there who are going to continue doing what they want to do.

My own sister is just laughing it off and saying it's a load of nonsense. She's still going to see our 90 year old mother - still taking her grandchildren (who are at nursery school) - just going for a gossip, not actually doing anything useful like shopping for her!

My OH is in the middle of chemotherapy so immune system compromised, but she has taken offence that we've asked her not to come around every couple of days expecting to come in for a gossip.

When you read about the parents that take their children out of school, saying they’re doing it to protect them, then hear about the selfish pricks taking the very same kids out for lunch or shopping, it does make you wonder who is in charge. Children should be banned from being out during school hours and maybe the selfish parents will actually take it seriously.

My daughters are both in other EU countries where they are in lockdown. It is difficult but perfectly doable, and people are abiding by it...(there is police involvement so far in those countries, and some arrests, but no direct military as far as I know)

The UK is taking a massive gamble with this. And I'm not sure this is the sort of thing you gamble with, hence the wildly different approach elsewhere and the WHO headshaking.

I see Jeremy Corbyn, who is 70, has told the BBC he intends to carry on as normal. Now, there is a fine example of social responsibility...not.

I think they need to really. Street outside is as busy as ever. My friend went on holiday today. People just aren't listening. Though many have to go to work anyway and a fair few bosses are telling people to come in as it is only advised to stay home.

Just a question. How are other countries handling necessary shopping?
In China, one person per family. Wearing a facemask. Once or twice a week. Absolute essentials only. Pretty straightforward.