Does anyone miss the daily briefing?

[QueenofmyPrinces]

I feel so out of the loop these days.

I miss hearing about the daily death rates because no matter how much time I spend looking for the information on the internet, I have never been able to find it.

I try to catch the news every day to hear what’s going on but between going to work and dealing with the children I can’t keep up to date. We used to joke that 5pm was always “mommy’s time” where I would shut myself away from the household so I could watch the briefing and see how things were unravelling and progressing. I used to like listening to the different ministers to see what changes they were putting in place to try and improve things but now I have little idea as to who is doing what.

Has Boris even been seen since he put an end to the briefings? It just seems like he’s washed his hands if it all. Even a weekly briefing would have been nice.....mind you, maybe there is one and I just don’t know about it??

Anyone else feeling the same or are you all glad to see the back of the briefings and the repetitive questions?

I don’t miss them. The daily figures are available on many platforms... gov.uk, Twitter, worldometer, BBC news, Sky news to name but a few. If they have anything important to tell us then they tell us.
Boris did an ad hoc press conference on Friday.

Thanks Lindy - I will have a look into it.

I’m a nurse and as we see increases in positive results we are all pretty much focused on whether things are getting better or whether we are going to see things get worse again, especially because I work in a hospital very close to Leicestershire. Knowing about daily infections and death rates is a big part of our interest because it helps us mentally prepare for what may be coming.

Twitter @DHSCgovuk, although as of Saturday they just link to the .gov address shown above @ganeshran does really good breakdowns in the comments on their daily updates. You don't need a Twitter account to see them.

No, I'm glad they've gone. They got so repetitive, and I think we're making people's anxiety worse as there was nothing but Covid on TV.

If you're a nurse, do you not get regular updates about the stats - everyone that I know that works for the NHS does? (though maybe that's only local stats).
I'm curious as to where you'd looked when you said you'd spent time looking on the internet, as it really only takes a very quick google to get numerous sources, DHSC and PHE have links to the information on their websites, and all the news outlets report on it daily. So no need to miss hearing the daily death rates at all..
You do also know that you CAN visit family, don't you? You can even stay overnight. That was announced in one of the daily briefings along with the pub opening, so interesting that you missed that.

You can even stay overnight. That was announced in one of the daily briefings along with the pub opening, so interesting that you missed that.

I do know you can stay overnight at someone’s house, I have stayed at my own dad’s house.

What I mean is I am not allowed to visit the homes of my sister, my mom, my friends, my neighbours etc, yet I could go to the pub and be under the same roof as lots of strangers.

And no - as a nurse we don’t get told of local stats at all. We aren’t even told the stats of our own hospital. We get emails 2-3 times a week from the Chief Executive to provide a general update to any changes the hospital is making but we don’t get anything specific, especially not admission rates and death rates. Anything we do hear is usually 3rd hand and off the grape vine.

Anytime I have looked online for data I have only ever come across numbers that are from 2-3 days earlier. However, now I have had some good suggestions from posters regarding websites I can visit, at least now I will know where to go for reliable and up to date information.

OP you can visit other peoples houses.Two families are able to meet up outdoors or indoors at each others houses now.

What I mean is I am not allowed to visit the homes of my sister, my mom, my friends, my neighbours etc, yet I could go to the pub and be under the same roof as lots of strangers

You can visit all of those people in their homes, as long as you maintain distance.

I miss it too OP, but do feel squeamish admitting it.

You can visit all of those people in their homes, as long as you maintain distance.

And therein lies my point - that without the briefings I’m so out of the loop.

I genuinely had no idea we are allowed to go in and out of various people’s houses. I’m glad to know about it now though!!

I

I certainly don't miss them. Plenty of up to date information on the Covid pages of the Gov.uk website, incl daily deaths, hospital admissions, etc for those who are interested.

I'm just thankful we don't have to endure Laura Kuensberg and Robert Peston's pathetic questioning anymore. It was clear they weren't listening to what was being announced and had just gone along with a couple of pre-prepared questions in the hope of catching a minister out for the evening's news broadcast which they'd been preparing for. Like the day Boris announced pubs etc were being re-opened - and Laura's question was whether he regretted delaying the lockdown - completely irrelevant to that day' "news" - and then, yes, in the evening "news", it was all about the lockdown delays and very little about the relations just announced. BBC and ITV have behaved dispicably throughout - no wonder the general public have been confused about the restrictions when the "news" programs were working to their own agendas.

I miss watching them go lower but I don't miss them enough to look for them elsewhere iyswim

@QueenofmyPrinces

You can visit all of those people in their homes, as long as you maintain distance.

And therein lies my point - that without the briefings I’m so out of the loop.

I genuinely had no idea we are allowed to go in and out of various people’s houses. I’m glad to know about it now though!!

I

That was announced in a briefing.

No I don't miss them. They had their use, but I think also added to the unnecessary anxiety that has swept across so many young and healthy people. Far more people die daily of cancers linked to smoking, poor diet, lifestyle etc, and yet people don't change those parts of their lives. It's like all we have to fear is COVID.

Don’t miss them at all, I agree with PPs that said they were becoming a driver of people’s anxiety, something to latch on to. They were repetitive and as also said, no realistic journalist challenge as they simply asked the same questions over and over, framed in a way to trap into producing a juicy sound bite. I do understand that if you’re on the go a lot it became a time to stop - and about finding the info. But the main points of discussion are always on the BBC website/app, as are the figures. There’s also an awesome thread on here that discusses the figures specifically; it’s so helpful and the contributors and I find to be factual and impartial with no pessimistic/optimistic axe to grind. Bookmark that thread and you’ll never have to go looking again!

Why do you need to know how many deaths daily? What do you think it tells you?

And therein lies my point - that without the briefings I’m so out of the loop.

Being able to visit people in their homes was announced at a briefing.

Where are you getting your news from now?

I think the briefings served a purpose for a time, but then they became too much. The government often didn't have anything to say, really, the questions were repetitive and quite often they weren't even answered. It's too much news for most people.

That said, I do think it's been really easy to keep up-to-date with the daily deaths/new cases, and the changes to what is allowed and when, throughout this whole thing. That's not to say that it's always clear why you can do some things and not others, but it's been largely clear what you can do, and for the last month or so, everyone knew what was going to be announced at a briefing before the briefing even happened.

I do understand where you’re coming from.

The daily briefing gave an anchor to the day and demonstrated the focus that the crisis was being given at central government level and the work that was being done to fight / control / mitigate etc.

Now it feels that the sense of solidarity has gone with the dismantling of the lockdown but many of us still stuck isolated working from home for the foreseeable.

www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-publi

The daily dashboard is here

@ICouldBeTheOne

Why do you need to know how many deaths daily? What do you think it tells you?

Knowing that the number of deaths in the UK remains higher now than when we went into lockdown might just keep people a little more focussed on reducing transmission.

A campaign to tell people to get back out to pubs and drink yourself senseless is going to profit Weatherspoons but isn't going to support continued lowering of the infection rate.

The reason for stopping the briefings seems blindingly obvious. Let people forget there's a pandemic out there, get them into pubs and crowded events and we can blame them, not the government when more people die - except people won't be asking so many awkward questions or thinking that the government is incompetent because they are too busy having a liberation party. No briefings means greater opacity for the government.

The reason to stop the briefings seems very obvious

Haven’t watched a single one. Or any broadcast.

if you want the data the official site is here:
coronavirus.data.gov.uk/

and the new beta site (in testing so not immediately updated) is here:
coronavirus-staging.data.gov.uk/

lots of numbers about all things covid

I think your use of the phrase "I miss" is the problem here. I miss my friends, I miss my family, I miss my long passed family pet. I do not "miss" hearing how many people died that day.

It was informative to see the numbers going down, but even so as soon as they're low certain people scream government lies, but strangely seemed to believe them when they were high 🤔

Anyway, you want the info try Google. It's this amazing search engine that's been knocking about for a few years now. Seems to be pretty good at locating information I want.

chris whitty was the highlight of my day

not sure what the other ones said?

We still get them in Scotland. Always led by Nicola Sturgeon. I find them useful. I've been impressed with NS and the others (and I don't vote SNP) and like the clarity of the information. I also used to watch the 5pm ones most days and think they finished too abruptly and miss hearing what Chris Whitty and the non-politicians had to say.