Chris Witty "We're at the limits of the contact we can allow"

[confusedandold]

I've been watching the Press conference and I always find Chris Witty the voice of reason. He is saying that we are at the limit of what we can open without the virus spreading further and we may even have to take a step back. So where does this leave the opening of schools in a few weeks time?

What is spain going to do? Cases already increasing and presumably schools not back yet.

@Keepdistance

What is spain going to do? Cases already increasing and presumably schools not back yet.

Yes that will be interesting. I think Spanish gov have announced 1.5m distancing and masks in schools for sept.

@SkodaOndaroada

1,8,9.. not really helpful as someone is already suspected so not really ensuring safety.

Also enhanced cleaning and social distancing- lovely in theory, not going to happen in practice.

Wear PPE when necessary... err I would say given all other indoor settings are mandatory or recommended that PPE is pretty damn necessary.

But hey let's encourage them to cough in a tissue (presuming there are any) and assume that they won't come to school if they are ill.

www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/health/coronavirus-children-camp.html?referringSource=articleShare

It's really worrying - "The study affirms that group settings can lead to large outbreaks, even when they are primarily attended by children"

Is there credible data regarding health of those that have recently remained in school. The socio economic disadvantaged and critical key worker children plus those that elected to return for the few days? I am just wondering who in the community is doing all the asymptomatic super spreading. Is it the children spreading to adults?

@puzzledpiece

My only hobby, Ice skating has been put back two weeks. How can a large ice rink with easy social distancing and limited numbers be more risky than a crowded pub?

I did wonder if it is to do with temperature - those reported instances in chilled food processing plants where the virus has spread amongst the workforce, it seems to spread more easily in the cooler weather than heat too.

Just a quick comment on heat and Covid. I have learnt that new some new US Police vehicles (Ford Interceptor) are fitted with a Covid option of heating the car interior for fifteen minutes at 133 degrees Fahrenheit or 56 degrees Centigrade to kill any virus remaining.

May be I should consider that instead of a deep home interior clean using bleach, anti viral surgical spirit and anti bacterial products. Many overseas nations use UV therapy to clean shared mass public transportation carriages. I doubt UK school deep cleaning is as vigorous and how do you retrain little children to stay robotically at a set distance from each other after teaching them from nursery to hold hands and walk diligently in a quiet line two by two etc etc.

I wish I had saved some of the Swedish articles I read. It made me even more glad that we've held onto the legal right to home educate here. In countries where it is illegal not to send your kids to school shielding parents or children have been put in horrendous situations.

I agree. Sweden's stance on homeschooling shocks me, even at the best of time. Particularly since they have a crummy education system anyway---imagine being forced to put your kids in Swedish school.

I would like to know if Boris waved his magic wand so anyone shielding could go out on August 1? What has changed from July 31 when they were told to stay at home? Why can children be sat in a classroom with 29 others & a teacher but not be allowed to go round to see Grandparents round the corner? Why weren't masks made compulsory when the outbreak started in March? By now everyone would be used to wearing them & wouldn't be moaning.

Masks couldn't be worn back in March due to a global shortage at the time, which was made worse by more governmental corruption in the UK. During Easter half term, if schools weren't providing care for kids they were making ppe.

Even the mask advice isn't that useful compared to the rest of the world.

I would like to know if Boris waved his magic wand so anyone shielding could go out on August 1?

That wasn’t a flick of a switch announcement. We were told back in June that if rates remained low then shielding would pause at the end of July. So there were some weeks of looking at the rates before say ‘yes, you too can go shopping’

There had to be an actual date for the change, but it wasn’t decided on the basis of what one day looked like compared to the next

Thesilkshawl

Fantastic post, you have summed up the situation perfectly and it is the only solution- vulnerable shield, everyone else back to normal. Professor Chris is deluded if he thinks we can keep closing businesses, it’s almost as if he is completely out of touch and cannot think beyond science and figures.

yes it’s a new virus

How insightful you are Skoda why are people so irritating Is it your mission in life?

No shit Sherlock.

@iVampire

I would like to know if Boris waved his magic wand so anyone shielding could go out on August 1?

That wasn’t a flick of a switch announcement. We were told back in June that if rates remained low then shielding would pause at the end of July. So there were some weeks of looking at the rates before say ‘yes, you too can go shopping’

There had to be an actual date for the change, but it wasn’t decided on the basis of what one day looked like compared to the next

What worries me now is that rates are starting to rise, faster in some.places than others, granted, but there's obviously a lag between more people becoming infected and then these infections coming to light. During this time the de shielded will be exposed. I'm back to work tomorrow, will be exposed to a few hundred people every day. Whose to say our area isn't one of the ones that will be locked back down in a few weeks time? It all feels like we're being sent back out on a wing and a prayer without proper protection in place and I feel desperately sorry for teachers and students who will be in a worse situation come September.

Timing and smart awareness and proactivity is something that is severely lacking with the UK government as not so much fire fighting but putting out wild fires with a couple of buckets to appear involved

In the countless threads about the virus, I've rarely seen it better put
My own (long) experience is mainly of local government, but faced with an issue - any issue, not just Covid - there seem only a few preferred approaches:

Appoint a whole raft of new staff to appear to deal with it
Arrange meetings - and more, and more - to talk about it
Ensure there's no chance at all for anyone to be held responsible for it

Add widespread corruption (the one thing you forgot to mention) and a perfect storm of incompetence is guaranteed

Cleaning and hand washing is only a small part, it’s airbourne so transmission will happen in large close groups regardless of 24/7 cleaning and hand washing.

Eliminating groups being together indoors, limiting travel like Wales did is what we need to do until we drive cases completely down.

@jomartin281271 I'm in favour of schools opening safely, but I wish Chris Whitty would come clean about the 'bubbles' the government claim our kids will be in. Every child, teacher and member of staff will be touching the same doors, stair rails and other surfaces that the rest of the school has been in contact with. They will also be breathing in the aerosols that the 'bubble' who used the corridor five minutes ago exhaled. The idea that our kids are in a 'bubble' is nonsense. There is only one bubble at the school. It contains every child and member of staff who is attending the school. At some secondary schools this could be in the thousands. There needs to be a plan B. The idea that the schools can re-open in full and it will not cause the R rate to increase is a fantasy. Many parents need their children to be at school so they can get to work. These children should go to school. Many parents are in poor health or have grandparents living in the house and they want to continue to educate their children at home. This should be allowed. The key thing here, is that parental choice should take precedent over a blanket government rule. If only half the amount of children were at school, it would make it safer for teachers and for the families of the children who were attending. There has never, in my lifetime, been a time when parental choice was as important as it is now. We should make ourselves heard.

Absolutely spot on.

We appear to have reached the limit of this government's ability to make sensible decisions. Latest crazy plan is to make over fifties stay at home. The same over fifties who can't afford to retire because final salary pensions were scrapped.

'We must learn to live with this virus,' WHO warns

Published on Aug 2, 2020

The World Health Organization has warned that 'we must learn to live' with Covid-19.

The emergency committee gathered in Geneva on Friday, exactly six months on from its declaration that coronavirus was a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the committee: “The pandemic is a once-in-a-century health crisis, the effects of which will be felt for decades to come.”

Work until you're seventy but don't leave the house if you're over fifty. Eat out to help out but lose weight. Build more but don't expect us to decide your planning permission for two years. Cycle more but don't expect us to provide cycle routes alongside the new roads we are spaffing your taxes on. Meanwhile we'll carry on watching snuff porn and assaulting our staff.

Masks couldn't be worn back in March due to a global shortage at the time

Was there a global shortage of cloth and elastic, which is all that people are wearing now?

I can’t imagine the cost of 8million Primary children parents, many who won’t be working, just doing part time or claiming large top ups anyway, will be less than removing everyone over 50 from workplaces and losing out on their taxes.

Far better to work with employers to allow flexibility than lives of millions for something that could be done remotely. All the children, staff and families would still be at risk in schools and go home and visit family members over 50 anyway given how many don’t follow the guidelines.

I doubt over 50 will be removed from workplace, probably advised to work and that’s all. If it happens which I doubt.

I'm not sure Tedros is telling us anything we don't know there!

My personal opinion is that we might get some compliance with the current levels of restrictions for maybe 6 more months but I think much beyond that people will pretty much abandon them. The reality is that the restrictions are contrary to human nature and people just won't stick it out for years and years. Eventually, whatever the risks, people will take them.

Sunshine yes agree.

Unfortunately when things are closed that’s taken away too.