If the decision was solely down to you ...

[Boredsheep]

How would you get the country out of lockdown?
What would be first to go back to normal? What would change forever?

[LilacTree1]

Birdie but that’s their choice. They’re allowed to open now and have chosen not to.

So what you’re saying isn’t actually part of a release strategy.

[BirdieFriendReturns]

LilacTree1 - well seeing as this is all theoretical it doesn’t really matter.

Costa has reopened 4 stores today as drive throughs or delivery only.

Hopefully restaurants and cafes will re-open for diners soon.

[LilacTree1]

“ Costa has reopened 4 stores today as drive throughs or delivery only. ”

That’s interesting. My area is the same as yours, probably because the small places can’t Social distance in their kitchens.

[justanotherneighinparadise]

I’d like McDonald’s to reopen for drive through. So I’ll vite for that first.

[Vincent05]

Test, trace and isolate in contacts with wristbands to ensure isolation. Open small shops first, and work places, schools later on. Masks compulsory in public areas. Basically copy South Korea.

[elephantsumbrellas]

Everything back to normal, with firms supporting the shielded group. Not sure how long for though.

I would assume cases drop significantly over the summer, and risk of much larger second wave if we haven't reached herd immunity by autumn.

Government nhs and care homes should plan how this will be dealt with as their priority, so that no further lockdown is required

[The80sweregreat]

Interesting thread and mostly all for opening up so far!

[lockeddownandcrazy]

Back to normal with social distancing and serious enforcement if people break it. Like big fines.
Test anyone who wants/needs - ask them to pay if it is a want.

[Madein1995]

Businesses etc opened up with social distancing measures in place. Schools back to normal. Anyone vulnerable can stay at home if they choose. Most other people will be fine. Is not feasible to keep ia locked up like prisoners forever. Oops,no I'm unfair comparing us to prisoners. Prisoners get an end date to focus on.

[Appuskidu]

Interesting thread and mostly all for opening up so far

But the question was ‘how would you open up?’ not, ‘would you open up?’ or ‘when would you open up’

[Appuskidu]

Schools back to normal. Anyone vulnerable can stay at home if they choose.

Many schools can’t open anywhere near ‘normal’ if vulnerable staff can choose to stay home.

[elephantsumbrellas]

I also think we should be encouraging everyone to get outside as much as possible over the summer plus take vitamin D

It is so striking the difference in cases for northern hemisphere just coming out of winter vs Southern Hemisphere just coming out of summer...

[elephantsumbrellas]

Schools would manage as every other industry will. Teachers will likely want to work if the choice is work vs no pay. Or they can follow the example of how the NHS has coped with staff shortages

[Boredsheep]

Thanks for everyone’s replies. Interesting reading how everyone would do it given the choice.

[AlphaJura]

Ramp up test, trace and isolate. You can't fight a virus if you don't know where it is. The reason everything is locked down is because they admitted they couldn't stop it spreading and the lockdown measures are to slow down its spread. If everyone was tested regularly they could identify hot spots where the virus is and isolate affected areas/people accordingly. Everything else could essentially go back to normal.

[pokemongrief]

Widespread antibody testing and tracking positive people and their contacts via apps. Home quarantine for people who were in close contact with affected people. Notified via app.
People must all wear masks when in public areas except parks etc where social distances can be kept.
Reopen schools but encourage handwashing, gels etc.
Shield vulnerable people, pay for family to be carers where possible.
Reopen venues where people are not in very close proximity. Ice skating rinks, yes, cinemas, no.
Reopen all shops but have social distancing and hand gels available.
Reopen factories which produce goods but social distance where possible and practice good hand hygiene
Fly in foreign workers to pick crops etc as before. Workers must not mix in the towns unless socially distancing and handwashing.
Takeaways can reopen.
Pubs and restaurants open last and efforts would be made to socially distance.
Any small shops can reopen if people can distance in them.

Start with the first ones for a 3 week period, look at new cases, reassess to see if further opening can happen.

[Delatron]

I would give it another 3 weeks then start a gradual easing of restrictions.

In these three weeks I’d throw everything at making sure we had enough testing and for anybody who wants it. I’d also focus on a strategy for contact tracing.

After 3 weeks I’d open shops, garden centres with social distancing.

After the May half term I’d open schools on a staggered basis so half days, a few days a week, different drop off and pick up times. I’m fully aware we can’t social distance in schools but I would still send back on a part time basis. This would only be for about 5 weeks anyway. Anyone with symptoms to self isolate.

I’d shield the vulnerable still.

Use the spare NHS capacity in Nightingales for operations etc. Or move COVID people there and open up some capacity for urgent cases like cancer treatment.

I’d change 111 protocol and get people in hospital and on oxygen earlier.

I’m worried about the hospitality industry and can’t work out my strategy to support them!

I’d close our borders and everyone entering the country would go in to a 14 day quarantine.

No large gatherings for some time.

People can visit family and have small gatherings.

[Hairyfairy78]

I’d follow whatever Germany do because they seem to be much better at this CV19 than we are.

[Delatron]

Yep true. Just watch Germany and copy a few weeks later. I don’t know why we don’t collaborate our response more globally.

I

[duffeldaisy]

In a perfect situation (and I appreciate this is just fantasy) I'd
1)get a load of testing materials in (to test for having the virus and to test for antibodies)

2)make sure we had a huge quantity of biohazard suits ready to go

3)give every citizen a generous payment to buy food/supplies for the next month

4)with warning, have a very full lockdown. Absolutely no leaving the home (unless ill) for 3-4 weeks unless you are a vital worker.

5)if you're a vital worker (so a medical worker, a utility worker, etc) then you get issued with biohazard suits/on site showers and so on and do have to carry on working.

6)hopefully if everyone sticks to it really rigidly (knowing that it will be for a shorter time), then hopefully by the end of the 3-4 weeks, the only people who will have moved around at all will be the vital workers and those who have developed symptoms or otherwise ill, and those who've recovered and been sent home.

So everyone who needs it should then be in a hospital/care setting, and can be thoroughly tested. Many make still take time to recover, but with a smaller, core team caring for them (and perhaps based in nearby accommodation) who are given huge amounts of PPE, hazmat suits etc.

Anyone who somehow slipped through the net should be immediately tested, any contacts notified and quarantined. But hopefully the virus in the community will have died out after those 3-4 weeks because it had nowhere to go.

Then all we need to control after that is the borders, temporarily. I mean, if we're going for a utopian situation then every country in the world could simultaneously lock down and do the same for this few weeks.

It'd be a grim few weeks, but it would hopefully then be over, followed up with very strict testing for symptoms and antibodies until vaccines are discovered.

I'd reward the NHS staff and key workers with pay rises, and we'd encourage more working from home wherever possible to keep down pollution, invest a huge amount in green technology so that as a country we could provide our own electricity and power from the elements (especially the sea/wind/solar), build small farms in town centres where shops have closed down, to provide more food and give more green spaces, look again at working hours to make them fit better around family life and school timetables, so that we can make full use of parents' potential to work if they can/want to, and still have lots of quality time with their families.

Eventually, as a vaccine gets developed and Covid vanishes, hopefully we can end up with something good coming out of this terrible tragedy, rather than going back to a setup where people are struggling from day to day in insecure work and living conditions. Wellbeing could rise, health outcomes improve, and then if another virus comes along we'll be far better prepared to stop it early.

[elephantsumbrellas]

@Delatron I dispose as no one knows yet the best response. Do low rates now truly mean lower rates overall etc.

In a way the different responses is a positive as when this is over we will be able to see what works and what doesn't. For the next time

[Delatron]

True but I don’t think you can argue with Germany’s strategy and current death rate. Plus, other countries who’ve handled it better come out of lockdown earlier (but keep borders closed) basically all the things we have been unable to do.

I do agree that only on a few years we will be able to look back and say what was the right strategy. Maybe Sweden will be right after all? Maybe NZ will end up prolonging the epidemic.

You can’t argue with the many failures in our policy though (lack of testing, lack of quarantine, lack of PPE etc).

[elephantsumbrellas]

You can’t argue with the many failures in our policy though (lack of testing, lack of quarantine, lack of PPE etc).

Nope I certainly wouldn't argue with you there

[muddledmidget]

Easing of lockdown cannot happen until our health service have proper PPE and testing for contact tracing can be carried out on a mass scale, close to home and we have assurances as to the accuracy of the testing.
Once that has happened, I'd like all businesses that can put safety measures in place to protect their staff to open up, with social distancing in place for the customers, and outdoor time to be unrestricted. Schools can go back with yrs 10 and 12 first, and primary schools in for half the week to spread each class over 2 classrooms, with staggered lunch times and packed lunches only.
I think these measures in place for 6 weeks to assess the infection levels, and then loosen or lockdown depending on outcome.

For those saying children aren't at risk so should go back immediately, we don't know how the virus is spread, and every child will be going home to potentially vulnerable parents, or seeing vulnerable grandparents as restrictions ease. We cannot have a free for all with no level of containment because people will still be dying.