Has UK Lockdown been a waste of time and money?

[pontypridd]

Other countries have started locking down earlier and been far more strict. Their lockdown has had more effect and now they're beginning to come out of it.

UK locked down was late and has been soft - so not much change to infection rates etc are happening.

Might we have been better off not bothering? As it stands it looks as though we're going to have to continue this for much longer. I wonder whether a shorter and more severe lock down would have ended sooner.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/apr/25/boris-johnson-lockdown-dilemma-grim-virus-data

[Bool]

These threads are one big - let’s talk the UK down with absolutely no critical look at how other countries are faring. Thank you @Clavinova for slipping in some facts along the way. I did have to laugh when I read about Spain saying they wouldn’t let Brits in when we were busy letting Spanish footballers and fans in when Spain was ‘such a hotspot’. But then this is the media talking and I very much doubt anyone actually said that anyway. The media has been appalling in all of this.

[bringbacksideburns]

What lockdown?

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/police-hundreds-gather-manchester-funeral-18150043

[Looneytune253]

Hmmm I may be too cynical but I reckon our gov want a steady trickle of people still contracting this so we get back to an actual normal sooner? The rule breakers will still be contracting it but as it's not the whole of the British public the numbers aren't too high for the NHS. I do wonder about countries with a very strict lockdown that they may be at risk of the virus surging massively again if they lift lockdown but there's still many cases in the country or a neighbouring country.

[Bool]

@Looneytune253 that’s where we are headed yes. It’s not a cynical thought.

[Humphriescushion]

That has certainly been true for France clarinova.

[mummymeister]

bringbacksideburns - had we been in a lockdown the police would have had some army support to bring every one of these idiots in. Honestly, its darwinism at work - natural selection. stupid people breaking the rules and some will end up with the virus. the only shame is that they will go on to infect shop workers, NHS staff, transport people etc.

Its not a case of talking this country down. I think that the government introduced the only strategy it could bearing in mind the numbers that were not going to be told what to do "woteva" its more about us as a group of people, individuals.

[Parker231]

@Bool - I’ve not mentioned the UK being at the top of any table. I said not being able to travel internationally hurts me as all my and DH’s families live outside the UK and we are use to seeing them regularly.

[Bool]

@parker123 well I am with you there.

[Bool]

Am glad @mummymeister isn’t our government. It sounds like you should go live in a police stage mummy.

[Bool]

*state

[Chipmonkeypoopoo]

I think there is an assumption in the UK that countries that have adopted stricter lockdown measures are doing so to eradicate the virus and that is not true. We do it to keep the numbers below our healthcare limit and to allow us to operate for other health needs enabling people to have less restricted access to the healthcare they need. For example, in Greece many of our islands have no hospital and very limited healthcare options. If we had allowed COVID to spread more before lockdown we might have seen entire island populations wiped out as many have almost entirely elderly populations with no access to hospitals. In addition, our government was only elected last July after 10 years of distrust, political infighting, economic disaster, a loss of confidence in the international markets etc. They needed to be decisive and in control to improve public confidence in them as well as international confidence in us - that we're not a lazy, tax evading, irresponsible, childish nation, etc.

I just think there are some lessons you can learn from other countries but you cannot make assumptions and you need to think about how those lessons translate in your context.

[Bool]

@Chipmonkeypoopoo completely agree. And this is exactly why Spain and Italy locked down harder than the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. The Spanish and Italian healthcare systems were taken by surprise and overwhelmed.

[WiseUpJanetWeiss]

@Bool I think a lot of people have made a lot of sacrifices. Lost jobs and income. Suffered mental health issues. Put off routine operations and some not routine and life threatening. That to then hear that it is still all doom and gloom in the NHS will make some people then stop and think is this lockdown really worth it. We must bring a balance. Yes of course the NHS isn’t perfect. But it is doing an amazing job. And everyone is pulling together for that.

Ah, OK I think I see what you’re saying. Yes, many incredible feats have been achieved by essential workers up and down the land. Yes, this has made us realise what we really value, and what we don’t want to go back to. No, we should not talk down those efforts, but we’re here only by the skin of our teeth and serendipity

And at what cost has all this been achieved? We’re not through this yet.

Over the past few weeks while DH and I have been working hard but safe in our house, our frontline staff have been exposed to the virus and many of them may yet get sick. I doubt we’re past peak nurse/Dr, paramedic/HCA infections let alone deaths. Some of these costs could have been avoided if we had tested, tracked and traced and introduced earlier restrictions.

[Miljea]

An aside- regarding South Africa, and indeed, much of Africa, a good point was made recently about the reality that Covid seems to cause most deaths in over-60s males.

The average age of death for a SA man is 60, anyway. So there is anger at lockdown being imposed, (especially given how many people cannot distance due to living in shanty towns), by elderly leaders-for-life.

The average age of the population in much of Africa is 18; ours in the west is something like 42.

[Chipmonkeypoopoo]

@Miljea absolutely true. I live in Kenya when there's not a global pandemic on. The average life expectancy there is dismal. I think the greatest concern for us in Kenya is more about risk associated with the big three of Africa - TB, malaria and HIV. And of course the fact that lockdown is entirely unsustainable when the majority of your population is engaged in the informal work sector. They have the worst choices to make in sub Saharan Africa with next to no relevant data for their context.

[Chipmonkeypoopoo]

Didn't really need the global infront of pandemic but it makes the point extra strongly. 😁

[Miljea]

😂

[Ormally]

@feelingverylazytoday:

"There's evidence that new infections actually started to peak the week before lockdown"

Was interested to read this piece by someone who sounds to have had a narrow escape. With pre-lockdown exponential growth (presumably) as his standpoint, he believes that 11 days were responsible for the spread of two thirds of the UK infections. This may be a bit of a chicken and egg situation though, because of the counter effects of the lockdown, vs going on with no lockdown.
www.minghella.com/eleven-days-in-march/