Matt Hancock finally starts telling the truth

[jomartin281271]

This is an extract from an interview Matt Hancock gave on Radio 1 this morning, when he was reacting to the sharp increase in reported cases.

The health secretary stressed how serious coronavirus can be for young people, even though they are less likely to die or get seriously ill.
"Long Covid is really serious. And people can be in a bad way for months and months and months," he says.
"The second really important message is that younger people spread the disease, even if they don't have symptoms.
"Don't kill your gran by catching coronavirus and then passing it on. And you can pass it on before you've had any symptoms at all."

And now that schools have opened the number of cases has rocketed and children are unwittingly bringing the virus back into their homes, possibly infecting older members of their family. Isn't it about time we had some joined up thinking from this government. It's only a week ago that Gavin Williamson and Boris Johnson were telling us that young people were almost immune.

In a lot of ways younger people can't win. If they stay at home then they're not helping the economy, if they go outside then they're killing granny.

No, that is not Matt Hancock's message, he did a similar interview on KBC this morning - he said young people just need to follow SD guidance, maintain scrupulous hygiene and handwashing routine and wear a mask where possible. The evidence is that young people have stopped doing that - the guidance hasn't changed, their behaviour has!

Matt Hancock is one of the most authentic and principled of Government Ministers, I remember he got genuinely choked up talking about deaths from Coronavirus in the early days. His account on LBC this morning was to highlight the current challenges of the younger age group in an attempt to reinforce the risks. If he didn't do that, people would be on here whinging that he should have!

If people would resist the temptation of jumping on the bandwagon of slagging MPs like MH off, and actually listened to the intention of messages, it would really help get people taking responsibility instead of whinging about stuff months later and blaming MPs for everything and anything. It's becoming a ridiculous broken record.

KBC = LBC

I agree MH has stepped up in all this. He’s pretty much carried the can for Johnson.

It might be easier to persuade teenagers to adhere strictly to SD and mask wearing if they hadn’t spent weeks telling them that they didn’t need to wear masks or to SD in a classroom of 30.

MH sounds like he's done lessons in how to portray empathy in public speaking. It is not very genuine.
Telling kids they are going to kill their granny is it true, nor helpful.

my dm cannot manage @VinylDetective, she refuses to confirm any longer

@Tomatoesneedtoripen

it is very hard for the grannies, plenty of whom like to Eat Out, travel on buses, go out to lunch

It'd be a hell of a lot easier if the young did something really simple like remember to social distance. They're supposed to be bright yet seem quite incapable of staying 2 metres away from other people.

doh, conform

you are right @user1497207191

@Howslifenow

Instead of deregistering give remote learning option

No - there are 'proper' online schools for those who don't want to risk Covid.

Everyone else needs to crack on. Either send your children to school, or find an alternative solution. Same as it has always been, really.

As for the "solutions" such as two weeks on, two weeks off: that would just make parents' (or, more likely, mothers') lives really, really difficult.

One thing that's interesting is that one of my local independent schools has seen record numbers of applicants (especially for Years 10 and 12) as a result of the massive gulf in the ways the state and independent sector managed online learning. This includes my local "outstanding" state secondaries, where people will pay a million pounds for a house so as not to pay school fees only now, they are doing both.

@Tomatoesneedtoripen

my dm cannot manage *@VinylDetective*, she refuses to confirm any longer

That’s her choice then. I really can’t see the attraction of the dystopian parody of shops, cafes, etc that exists now.

Letseatgrandma
That’s interesting after months of the government implying that children don’t get it or spread it.

The government would say anything to get the schools open. Not because they care about education but because they want people back at work. I agree it’s too early for schools going back to have caused the spike but there’s enough incidents already in school to be able to see the way this is going. Hardly surprising as the idea of social distancing in schools is a nonsense and it’s mainly staff who are suffering.

no, Children need to be back at school, not just so the parents can go out to work.
they need the safety net of school at the very least

MH is talking about 17 +

how on earth are single parents/ parents who have to work to ya know...live?!supposed to not work and home school 4/5/6year olds who cant be left in the day?

not thought this through

@daisychain01 Tbf I wasn't talking about Matt Hancock, who I agree is first class.

So what profound difference is supposed to happen at age 17 compared to 13-16.

@Pixel77

So what profound difference is supposed to happen at age 17 compared to 13-16.

Alcohol

I think he is as fake as the rest and sees his job on the line when it all goes titzup. Thats all.

Boris needs to make home working a right and let people stay safe if they can do their jobs from home.

"I would always query this. Europe is known for not always being totally accurate with the truth over many figures for all kinds of things."

Like the UK have always been honest? Like lying about excess deaths and fixing it so ANY deaths after 28 days for COVID treatment ISN'T recorded as COVID-related?

That sort of thing that Europeans lie about?

I think from 17 plus as well as being more physically mature they are more likely to be socialising in a party/alchohol/pub kind of way. Some younger teenagers may be doing this but a lot of them will still not be going out in that way yet and also many of them will be more biddable in terms of listening to parental advice or following parental rules.

Like lying about excess deaths and fixing it so ANY deaths after 28 days for COVID treatment ISN'T recorded as COVID-related?

That seems pretty logical to me.

They are worrying that people are starting to realise it's not the death sentence it's made out to be, and the dire consequences we were assured would happen as a result of packed beaches, demos, parties etc over the summer actually didn't come to pass. They are trying to make young people feel personally threatened again and if that doesn't work, the "don't kill granny" attempt. Yes some people suffer poat viral effects. Just the same as after glandular fever and flu and other illnesses.

This is spot on. I am no longer young and classed as clinically vulnerable but the level of scaremongering is around the risk of Covid to younger people is really irresponsible and I think the government will be shooting themselves in the foot if they think governing by fear is a viable long term strategy. Most people will eventually see though it and then what happens when all faith and trusts is gone?

Young people have already paid a heavy price for this pandemic and will be left to shoulder the burden of paying back the massive furlough tax bill whilst somehow magically generating enough tax revenue to fund the NHS, schools pensions and care for old gimmers like me in a few years. This virus is here to stay and we’re going to have to learn to live with it, with or without a vaccine. It’s time most people got their head round that instead of calling for locking down at every turn, it’s not sustainable.

My nephew's school sent all the year 8s home today. One kids already tested positive. Been back 2 days! All off now for 2 weeks. It's going to be a night mare!