Where are the scientists?

[StealthPolarBear]

Very odd

It's outrageous. Over 40k dead (minimum). R value heading (or) over one. And they don't have any medical experts on. They just hide away. This country is well and truly in trouble.

Very fishy. Were the press warned not ask where they were? The entire briefing was puzzling.

@mrshoho

Very fishy. Were the press warned not ask where they were? The entire briefing was puzzling.

We have no way of knowing, and it's unlikely they will admit it if true, but often the most obvious answer is the correct one.

I don’t think the scientists are hiding away. I think they are frustrated that they are giving the advice and the government don’t want to heed it. There was a good example of this a week ago when Boris said you could have a barbecue in your garden. They obviously hadn’t discussed it and the scientists did not look impressed that he was encouraging it at all. Same with changing the alert level. Reportedly Chris Witty stood firm in not dropping that although Boris was still happy to press ahead and ease the lockdown as he did.

I expect they've had enough since their advice isn't being followed and they aren't consulted over Johnson's off-the-cuff, get-Cummings-off-the-hook interventions.

except that now we know that all the reports are read by Matt Hancock and he decides what to listen to/believe, how reassuring......

Yes that's quite worrying considering Matt Hancock isn't a scientist and so wouldn't actually understand the nuance.

He was totally out of his depth tonight. It comes to something when Jeremy Hunt is looking like the better health secretary!

I suspect they are phasing out the briefings. They are shorter than they were, they won’t be on at weekends any longer, now no scientist. I suspect they will soon reduce them to only a couple of times a week and then maybe once a week before stopping them entirely.

I actually think that twice weekly or weekly data would be of more use now, daily figures vary and don’t really tell us that much.

In my view while we're in this awful Tom, so many of us not working, not seeing family, not living our lives, the government has a duty to talk to us and hear us once a day. We need to be assured they're not getting complacent.

I also suspect that they are trying to make viewing figures so low they can give up doing them. They’ve already said they’re dropping the weekend ones because not enough people are watching them, if they make the weekday ones so dull and politician led then people will stop watching and that will give them a way out

Are they dropping the weekend ones? Shit

It said on the bbc website at 4pm that it was he was going to be joined by Ruth May, chief nursing officer for England. It may be that she was unwell and that is why it has not been discussed, as it is a personal matter.

I can see the value of an ongoing daily briefing (although I suspect they will reduce them soon) but I’m not sure daily data has much value. If it goes up people worry and if it goes down people are happy (until it goes up and then they worry again!)

It would be much easier to see meaningful trends in weekly data.

I thought it was one of the better ones actually!

I think for the last few days, no-one has bothered asking the scientists anything anyway, so they were a bit superfluous. I imagine they probably have better things to do than answer repetitive and unimaginative questions from journalists. I think the daily briefings have come to a natural end. One or two a week would be more than sufficient.

There was an article, which popped into my newsfeed about the government going off piste from the scientific advice and now going it alone. I can’t find the article. But I think this is it now.

@Baaaahhhhh agree.

There was no scientist yesterday either, it was some dude to do with transport for a London!

Well, it was an interesting briefing even without the scientists

Now NHS staff have to actually start following the rules of self isolation for 14 days if they come into contact with a covid positive person, then we might as well shut up shop right now

The NHS is closed until further notice.

Now NHS staff have to actually start following the rules of self isolation for 14 days if they come into contact with a covid positive person, then we might as well shut up shop right now

Yeah, how's that going to work?!

It isn't.

Any families with relatives in hospital need to go and pick them up now because there won't be anyone to look after them

We’ve been told that we have to follow the 14 days isolation rule but we are exempt if we work in an area where we are given PPE to wear, which is how the NHS will get around it

Aaaand abracadabra not a fucking thing changes.

More empty posturing from Mr Hancock

I was having an enjoyable musing earlier that maybe all the scientists are on a chatty whatsapp and they decided to call a silent protest

I think they are winding briefings down.We are last the peak and it has been v useful to have updates.Once we open up everything else I guess we will just fine out about localized places or events being lockdown.

Every th ing will not be opened up for a long time. This is madness!