Neil Ferguson - is this Too good to be true?

[LilacTree1]

Resigns after breaking the lockdown?

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/05/05/exclusive-government-scientist-neil-ferguson-resigns-breaking/

[donquixotedelamancha]

it's only really too good to be true if he's not advising the government anymore. Given his previous projections on foot and mouth, swine flu etc I was surprised he was taken so seriously in the first place.

Oh FFS. Presumably your modelling is more accurate?

His inability not to think with his cock has no bearing on the choices being made. It's not like someone else couldn't have done the same model (many similar ones exist) or like the UK is some kind of outlier in the strictness of the lockdown.

Every bit of data we have says more than 10,000 a day would be dying by now if nothing had been done.

[jasjas1973]

Done nothing Johnson hasn't already done (Go shake Cv patients hands everyone and serial cheat) so promote Ferguson.

Apparently not a resigning matter in today's world.

[Anniesnotmydaddy]

Disgraceful - another one of the elite who think 'do as I say not as I do'. I'm about as conservative (with a small c) and law abiding as you'll get but I'm done with the lockdown as of now. These people are not going to tell me what to do.

[donquixotedelamancha]

Imperial's model for Sweden said 40,000 deaths by 1st May?!

If nothing had been done, but Sweden has acted. 90% of Sweden's population are following social distancing. Public transport use is massively reduced. They have stopped public events.

Their outbreak was smaller than ours, their population density is much lower and the scandanavians are famously non touchy feely. The price they are paying for mostly voluntary measures is the highest death rate per captia in scandanavia by a long way. That's a reasonable choice, but not one we could have made.

Perhaps if we had shut our borders earlier and shut public events as soon as it became clear the situation in Italy was serious we could have got away with voluntary measures, not now.

[PubsClubsMinistryOfSound]

the papers had the exact dates she visited, and it's over a month ago in the first case so they seem to have been sitting on it. Why would they do that?

If they've actually been aware that long, one possibility that springs to mind: they were asked not to reveal it by the government who are now ok with it getting out for whatever reason. Second possibility, the Telegraph chose to wait themselves until they thought public support for lockdown was sufficiently waning that it would weaken the case. At the start of April, pre-peak, public support and adherence was so high that this story may not have been as significant. Bear in mind they've been publishing a lot of get the economy back open stuff for a couple of weeks now, so the editorial slant is obvious. Sometimes when you have a story, you wait until it's going to have maximum impact.

[SudokuBook]

If it wasn't for him the death rate would have been many many times what is it.

Well would it? Not exactly renowned for accuracy in his modelling, is he?

Good bloody riddance, hypocritical prick

[Itisasecret]

Cynical I know but, maybe he has annoyed the economic gods who are more powerful from him. Handy distraction from the awful statistics we are churning out with no PM in sight.

[LilacTree1]

I said all along, he’ll make a fortune giving lectures on how many lives he “saved”.

Hopefully this will put an end to it. Hopefully....

[LilacTree1]

Sorry to make the obvious joke, but he took “fucking the Staats” literally.

[Peapod29]

I did have a giggle at her surname too.

[Xenia]

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/05/uk-coronavirus-adviser-prof-neil-ferguson-resigns-after-breaking-lockdown-rules

Why would anyone be so silly in that position to let his lover visit? Doesn't matter if he thought he was immune. It is how it looks that counts in a public position. Mind you I would not have had lock down as it has been mandated here in the first place and he has chosen to put two fingers up to it so clearly he does not really support it anyway. Time it was lifted and made voluntary only.

[donquixotedelamancha]

Hopefully this will put an end to it.

What, the lockdown? What then?

We have 30,000 officially dead, given we've only just started community testing the true figure is likely many more. Our new cases per day are barely declining. Our confirmed death rate is declining, but much slower than any other country which locked down.

How many deaths would it take before you felt lockdown was necessary?

What would you do instead, OP?

[Shalom23]

It's good he resigned.

[lljkk]

I have broken lockdown rules so I will not condemn.

[LilacTree1]

“ We have 30,000 officially dead”

Including those Patrick Vallance said very specifically

Had not been tested

Had not been confirmed infected with covid

And in his words “it’s very important to understand the difference”.

[Theluggage15]

I wonder if it was a neighbour who tipped the paper off. For a supposedly bright man, what an idiot.

[PickAChew]

Her husband probably knew. I saw a report saying that they had an open marriage.

[LilacTree1]

I’m sure this “bright” man would have modelled all,the options for being known as Professor
Lockdown and found them all worth it.

[jackparlabane]

If it was a month ago, wasn't that when he was ill? In which case she might have visited in order to provide meds, food and assistance.

Quote from her friends in the Guardian "Staats did not believe their actions to be hypocritical because she considered the households to be one." - or as Ferguson might have said, they could be treated as a single epidemiological unit.

[LilacTree1]

Lljkk “ I have broken lockdown rules so I will not condemn.”

You didn’t recommend them and tell Sweden they’d have 40,000 dead by 1st May, did you?

[Sarahandco]

Well surely for balance, you need to know who grassed him up and what their motives were?

[Maighdeann]

So when you have an 'open' marriage do you tell everyone so it's common knowledge

[TheoneandObi]

@walkingtohealth under guidelines what you did is perfectly ok. I've been doing the same for my parents. Dad has dementia and the GP told me I could go in as a carer. It's not at all the same thing as the prof and his lover