Press conference thread

[SouthWestmom]

Can't find one but might be good to have one place:

5pm today BJ CW and another

Over the target for volunteers and please stay inside.

Then questions:

Are they actually coping? Yes. Eg economic measures, more plans for self employed coming tomorrow.

Testing - CW responding.
Different test for different things.

Antigen test for people currently with it. Moved from general new cases to people in hospital (icu). Next would like to test nhs workers and critical workers who are currently self isolating. To support the nhs. Then we want to go out and test those with mild symptoms. Some having it as part of surveillance. Global bottleneck on this.

Then the antibody test - can't do in first few days after a fever bit possibly a week minimum. Says if you have had it. Tech is close and being evaluated this week.

Patrick (chief scientific officer) and CW - worse than no test is a bad test. Don't want to go ahead unless confident and a delay is worth having.

Anyone else?

No knowledge at a general population level of rates of infection - reference Oxford report question.

Question - why not a full lockdown?
Test -3.5million kits antibody could be available next week, how transformational would that be? Who will get them?

Answer BJ

Stay at home if you can. If you have to go to work your employer must follow the rules.

Have acquired a lot of tests. Evaluate if they are accurate enough for the general public. How to release them would then be considered. They are trying to break the transmission from one house to another - key is to stay separate. Some people cannot stay in all day. So then need to stay 2m apart.

Bsl interpreter is quite easy on the eye todayz

Not on BBC obviously need to find a new channel!

On the news channel!

Will the antibody tests be available on Boots and Amazon. How will you moderate this? How will you verify the results?

Hierarchy of things to do.
What proportion of people get it without symptoms?
Then nhs workers.
Do not think this is something you will be ordering in the internet from next week.

Yay Chris Whitty is back. I know I wasn't the only one wondering if he was ok.

Yes he always looks like he wants to say more though

Found the interpreter .

Critical care ok in comparison to a bad normal day but they expect occupation to rise in next two weeks

I'm glad they have an interpreter. I have noticed when we have broadcasts from other countries they often use one.

There’s one for all the daily coronavirus briefings. It’s really hard for deaf people to get good information so this is really important. Boris’s address time the nation had no interpreter which was dreadful.

Sorry this is all totally off topic!

Still nothing on Universal Basic income, this governments a disgrace!

Oh that is awful. Understanding what you're told is a pretty basic requirement.

I wonder what is to come. I am very worried about the impact on the economy and tbh I think a total planned stop for three weeks of pretty much everything would have been sensible with a plan to revive afterwards. Don't know how practical that is but surely better than this drip effect of some people not being sure.

And I really don't think it's helpful to say stick to your own household but we know some families need to think of emotional health - spilt parents, couples living apart etc. Just leaves it wide open.

I’ve been really worried about Whitty being absent. I’m sure he’s doing incredibly important stuff but he’s been a reassuring presence and it would be awful if he got sick or anything happened to him. So that was my highlight.

Is Boris being much nicer to the journalists at the moment?

The questions being asked by the journalists are a waste of time and become very repetitive.
Why can’t they be on subjects that the public want to know about today?

What is classed as necessary in terms of work. It’s so confusing.

Construction sites?

Transport being overloaded in London?

Just the same question asked different ways about the tests.

I thought that about the we chat today tbh- testing and self isolating

Seem to have removed leaving house for exercise?