How can they not be giving any dates tomorrow?

[fasttracksign]

I've just read on another thread that it was announced that Boris won't be giving any dates for any of the plans, just a general roadmap....

I get they can't be overly specific as things will change and they may need to pull back at times but I honestly thought that because he was doing his Big Statement at 7pm, he was going to give us a plan like Ireland with some structure and rough sort of dates to aim for.

I'm generally quite compliant and in agreement with the lockdown so far but I really think they need to give the public something to work towards before people just give up and lose all trust in the process.

They have consistently said they won’t give dates because they have to go by the latest data to work out what is safe.

The dates would be changing all the time, and so would only cause a lot of totally unnecessary fuss

Only those who are seeking sticks to beat the government with think its remotely appropriate

Because they need to see the impact of each phase before we can move to the next, it could be we can do things sooner than they expect but it could take longer.

We can compare impacts of other countries stages as a guide but given that there are so many differences eg culture of compliance elsewhere (not here!) Its hard to be sure

Why are most other countries doing giving dates though? With the caveat that things might change if the science says so.

What the first 4 posters said!

In answer to your second post - because of the nature of the people here!

I think they're right not to give dates. Regardless of what other countries are doing.

They have to see what the impact of any changes are first.

Because many other countries are more on top of it than we are perhaps.

I disagree, I think they need to give dates or at least a plan of what next. We are going on to week 8 of lockdown and people are getting fed up.

I don't think we should get a step by step plan with every single thing and a date next to it but I do think they need to be saying 'in June, we are roughly aiming for x, y and z as long as blah blah', 'we are aiming for schools to open in September, but could be sooner if x, y and z happens'. That's not too much to ask.

We need to know re: Schools.

@fasttracksign agreed.

I didn’t think they would give dates out either. I’m a bit 50/50 on this, on one hand it’s nice to have a few dates to look forward to but then it leads to the media doing constant countdown towards these dates and constant speculation.

The opposite could happen though and people give up because there's no plan of how long they are supposed to wait for.

I think it is clear that the media and some of the public are just looking for things to find fault with so they are playing it safe by not issuing dates
Personally I think that is sensible and any rational adult would understand that

We are seeing countries bringing lockdown back where numbers are significantly better than ours. How can we have a timeline at this point?

@CalmYoBadSelf nice passive aggressive response there 🙄

I hate the way we are treated in this country like we are all stupid. I am totally fed up now and want some idea of a timeline that we are working towards even if that changes. I don’t think that’s unreasonable. I have had enough and want to see my family, if I am told all being well I can see them in 2 weeks then I have something to look forward to. Right now I am miserable and just making my way through one day to the next. I can’t be the only one feeling like this.

@Ciwirocks from a person view i agree and actually rough dates would be motivational. I am, however, aware there do seem to be a lot of idiots in this country, friends who work in A&Es in various parts of the UK said last night was as busy as a normal New Years Eve with drunken accidents and street parties galore and paramedics had told them social distancing was non existent

Personal sorry not person

I imagine it's because they can't.

What's the point of giving dates when they've no way of knowing what the situation will be in 3/4/5 weeks or 2/3 months.

All I think they can do, at this stage, is experiment with easing things a bit and see what happens. If things go well, we move forward. If infection rates rise, we go back to lockdown.

Can't see anything will be gained by telling people that children will be back in school in June, for example, and then finding that any small changes they might make to lockdown have made things worse.

I think that the dates he could give would be so unpalatable to so many that he just won't.

Reading about how workplaces are going to have to operate now makes me realise how much of a marathon this is going to be.

I'm upset too and want to know when my children can go back, when I can work and when it will be safe, but it's not safe now. The numbers of infections are still high. The complications are only just starting to be talked about now. I'm not even sure about the narrative that "it's a mild disease for most" any more now I see how people are not getting better.

I disagree, I think they need to give dates or at least a plan of what next. We are going on to week 8 of lockdown and people are getting fed up.

Couldn't agree more. We need dates to aim for, not just continuous 3 week extensions with no date in sight of when things can start changing

But the lockdown achieved the lockdown purpose of preventing the NHS for being overburdened and there was no 'Lombardy-like' harrowing scenes. So... it worked and we can expect to retune to normality. Except that mission-creep and the enjoyment of power by the police who now have no crime to bother with and can cruise around intimidating people sitters my on benches means that there will be an extension for no reason and people will accept it like sheep.

Part of the reason is because if he said “on x day you can go to y” then people will decide “well it’s x in a week and y is similar to z so why can’t I do it”

Just like this weekend because their was rumour of lifting of some restrictions then some people have started it now!

We (state in US) have been given a few dates, all with caveats.
And one backtrack/extension, which did not go over well with many. I don't think they'll be doing that again.
We are getting info like "Restaurants may be opening mid-May, with restrictions".
We have gotten a school calendar, with schools set to open in August as usual; however, "School and family calendar subject to change" tacked on to the email, etc.
Trying to hit a moving target = lots of caveats and CYA