AIBU to feel so worried for the UK

[Badskinday]

I am in Ireland. Schools, universities and nurseries have been closed for a week. All pubs closed and large numbers of restaurants closed. All cinemas and playgrounds closed. All Primarks and IKEA and other large shopping stores (equivalent of Debenhams) closed. Local beauticians and hairdressers closed. Everyone working from home if they can. No clamping of vehicles near hospitals. Free food and food funded by donations being delivered to all hospitals. Supermarkets operating early opening hours for elderly people, providing gloves and hand sanitiser at the door. Installing plexi glass between staff and customers at the counter, putting down markings for where to stand to observe social distancing. No major issues with getting food. The limit for what you can tap to pay and not put in a pin has been increased. Everyone who can working from home. Drive through screening centres set up in sports grounds. All sports closed. Gyms largely closed. Public backlash against anything still open. Companies who are not working from home ordering screens and setting their staff up. Large numbers drafted into the police force with early graduation. 30,000 people responded to the health service call to come work for them in admin /contact tracing or any area they can in the last 24 hours. New pandemic unemployment payment for those made unemployed with fast track application. Freeze on evictions. Banks all agreed to fast track mortgage freezes for those in trouble.

We are still having issues with people congregating in public areas, hoping for a full lockdown soon but travel on public transport is down 75%.

The Uk seem to be running around like headless chickens with half of this measure here, bit of something else, no clear rules.

We are also affected by this because of our border with the Uk. Really worried for you all.

[rosie39forever]

People just don't seem to be getting how serious this is, hoards of people rampaging through supermarkets in close proximity to one another, I drove past out local Toby carvery this morning and the car park was packed, friends off out to the hairdressers and lunch, utter madness.

[starrysimon]

I’m terrified that I will have to give birth alone due to others not taking social distancing seriously. I’m no longer looking forward to the birth of my much loved and wanted baby. It’s sent me into a deep state of depression and anxiety

This country is going to hell in a hand basket very rapidly

[Falangalangadingdang]

I'm hoping with the volume of doctors and nurses that have been speaking out in the media today, our grossly incompetent government will actually have the balls to shut the country down.

You only have to read the multiple threads on here asking if it's ok to pop to someone's house for a cuppa and a chat or Sunday lunch at parents or in a pub/restaurant for Mother's Day.

Without proper leadership we are doomed.

[PeepeeDarling]

As far as studios decisions go Chinese government not notifying the WHO for 4 weeks must win

[Helpmechangemymindsetplease]

I am also worried and waiting for decisive action from the clown. I hope it comes sooner rather than later. He obviously doesn’t watch the news.

[KitchenConfidential]

Surely this should be in the corona topic?

[im2sexy4unow]

But lock down or other more stringent measures would take a strong government that really did listen to expert opinion. We have got a weak government (with a strong majority of sycophants) that is only courting populism.

The UK government showed its complete ineptitude with respect to the way 'Brexit' was handled. How could the population of the UK or any other part of the world expect the government to do anything else but bury its head in the sand?

[IVflytrap]

I honestly wouldn't have expected this from any UK government.

I would expect it from this government, certainly. This virus will disproportionately affect the ill and the vulnerable, and over the last decade this government have repeatedly brought in measures that have detrimentally affected the ill and the vulnerable. It simply doesn't bother them over much if ill people and poor people die. Economy comes first, ahead of the welfare of the people.

Thanks for the concern, OP. The inaction of our government means we're pretty much a timebomb now. There are going to be so many needless deaths. I'm sorry that the ROI will get caught up in the terrible decisions of our government, as is so often the case.

[Luc1nda]

There’s at least one of these threads a day.

[midwestspring]

We are also concerned for our family in the UK, even the USA is behaving with more social responsibility.
Putting the economy rather than people first seems an unbelievable approach to be taking now but still the government persists.
Supporting Brexiteer's pubs seems more important than keeping people alive.
I honestly wouldn't have expected this from any UK government.

[LakieLady]

The UK response is stupider than stupid.

A shutdown like Ireland that would last 2, 4 or 6 weeks will be far less costly than a partial shutdown that will last months. Because the virus will keep spreading as not enough was done. Chinas lock down proves this as they can already start to ease measures and have had lots of positive news

Spot on.

There's been not enough action from the government and what they have done has happened far too late.

There will be far more deaths because of their fannying about and the economic fallout will be far worse, too.

[Durgasarrow]

If you're more worried about the economy than the virus, then you still aren't getting it. This isn't one of those situations where you'd better hurry up and use that coupon before it expires. Right now, there are people who are asymptomatic walking among you spreading disease, and they're spreading it to other people. They are going to take it everywhere. This is contagion. You need to be avoiding each other starting weeks ago. The OP is correct. WAKE UP!

[flirtygirl]

The UK response is stupider than stupid.

A shutdown like Ireland that would last 2, 4 or 6 weeks will be far less costly than a partial shutdown that will last months. Because the virus will keep spreading as not enough was done. Chinas lock down proves this as they can already start to ease measures and have had lots of positive news.

There is too much uncertainty, concrete rules are needed.

The lack of testing is one of the biggest fallacies that the government will have to answer for. It's stupid to keep Drs off work for weeks, instead of test them and get the negative cases back to work quicker. Police and other needed front line staff are off work self isolating, not tested when many may not have the virus at all.

We absolutely need to self isolate till tested and well but we do not need front line staff sat at home.

Why has our testing decreased when all other countries increased testing?
Its almost like the government don't give a fuck!

[contentedsoul]

Just me that’s noticed none of the supermarkets are doing anything to restrict cross contamination
Visited scores in the past week and haven’t seen a single cleaner wiping surfaces, trolly handles etc etc

More worrying is the bigger picture
Stocks are now massively depleted
Carbon dioxide is down around the world, when this clears there will be a
unprecedented spike as manufacturing, logistics inc air flight kicks in to replenish stocks to previous levels.
That to me is more worrying than the bloody virus.

[KittyJune]

In China we all shut down fully for about 4 weeks on January 23. Most businesses were only closed for 3 weeks. Supermarkets and food shops not at all. No food shortages. No problems. All quick, very efficient, virus numbers dropped quickly as everyone stayed in and the epidemic in my previously badly effected province is now over, as there have been no new cases of the virus for nearly 4 weeks. The U.K. is dithering and messing around, doing nothing, making the virus situation worse, meaning it will go on for longer, it will take AGES (over a year apparently) until the crisis is over and life can go back to normal (as opposed to China’s 4 weeks) and businesses and people will be suffering for a long time. I am very afraid for my friends and family back home and also very sad as I can’t go home to see them or I’ll be trapped there and unable to return to my job here, as most countries won’t accept people from the U.K. now, due to how this is being dealt with. It’s ridiculous, scary and unnecessary.

[GreenestValley]

The reason we are screwed is not because of the virus itself. Much more significant over the longer term is going to be the impact of the virus on our economy - we’re going to be paying off the debt incurred by the bail out for the rest of all our lifetimes, through taxes and austerity.

Of course there was no other option but to bail out, but shutting everything down earlier would have just crippled us more and sooner. I think broadly the government has leveraged the right measures at the right times - we’ll see, but I think we’ll all feel the economic consequences much more than the death toll (likely to be objectively fairly limited) in the years to come.

[Badskinday]

Also to add our zoos and center parcs are also closed. People won’t act how they should. That’s why the government need to push this along. The uncertainty is so unfair on you all and must be so stressful!! It’s still stressful for us but there is a sense that something concrete is being done.

[lubeybooby]

We (the uk) are absolutely 100% fucked. Due to government sluggishness and advisors who think we are 4 weeks behind Italy when it's clearly more like 2 weeks

Italy didn't have the luxury of a crystal ball into the future but we do and still haven't even been as strict.