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.

@Pixel77

Yes, why is he not telling the older people to take care? Might be good advice.

I was thinking this, last time I was shopping it was maskless pensioner-aged people most keen to get in my space all the time!

@MeridaTheBold

^Protecting the vulnerable would be joined up thinking. So if vulnerable families can and want to home educate, let them.

looking at ways used by other countries to follow the science and distance. So, use halls, disused office buildings etc. for improved social distancing in schools.

2 weeks on 2 weeks off schooling may be

blended learning^

Yy I agree with this.
Imagine how far along this process we could have been if the Govt and the silly pressure groups hadn't ignored all the science until this point. They could have spent the summer putting funding and infrastructure in place to support this.

I agree too. The vulnerable should remain very vigilant. The rest of us should get on with it the best we can. Parents should be given the option to home educate temporarily without losing their school place if they have someone on the vulnerable list at home.

Yes, I thought the conservatives were about self responsibility. and would have included everyone in trying to do their bit. I know they had a negative response to the idea of asking older people to take care at one point, but still.

Putting all the blame on to the young, relieves the older people of responsibility.

My elderly neighbour who went to Majorca, keeps on about the young 'passing it around' but she went too, and did not quarantine either.

I would have thought an effective way to make the young take notice would be to close all pubs and bars. This would have the double advantage of stopping the spread that's happening in some of them and showing the young that actions have consequences, ie "If you want the pub open again, follow the rules!"

Additionally it's what the government have said they'll do to keep schools open.

I know it would be awful for those businesses, but so would a lot of people dying, leading to complete lockdown again.

The older people I know haven't gone out of their houses since March except for exercise or essential appointments. That includes my parents and my neighbours. They are holding out for a vaccine and resigned to spending several more months doing very little.
The young people spreading the virus through unnecessary socialising and drinking etc are jeopardising the reopening of schools with their actions. Since they cannot go to the pub/bars and social distance, those venues should close, especially in areas of local lockdown where visiting other households in any other context is banned.

@Augustbreeze I have just written almost the same as you without realising. Glad I am not the only one to think this. The double standards of government policy is sickening.

By the way, the older people I know are really just passing time until there's a vaccine. The longer there is no vaccine, the less they have to live for, until they have nothing to live for. There are large numbers of over-70 year olds who are sitting at home without social contact just waiting for a vaccine. The government need to remember that too and speed up the vaccine approval process - the fact that the manufacturers have already been cleared to manufacture millions of units of doses indicates clearly that it is fairly certain that those vaccines will be adequately effective (even if not perfect).

@Augustbreeze

I would have thought an effective way to make the young take notice would be to close all pubs and bars. This would have the double advantage of stopping the spread that's happening in some of them and showing the young that actions have consequences, ie "If you want the pub open again, follow the rules!"

Additionally it's what the government have said they'll do to keep schools open.

I know it would be awful for those businesses, but so would a lot of people dying, leading to complete lockdown again.

Pubs alone raise £23 billion in taxes. I imagine restaurants will be the same if not more. If you keep these closed, they will have to permanently close (as many already have had to) which will mean you’re losing a huge amount of tax revenue and making hundreds of thousands of people unemployed all at the same time.

But it is a healthcare crisis, so sectors of the economy that are effectively facilitating the spread of the virus should be closed, especially in areas of local lockdown where the virus is less under control.

That sector has been allowed to be open since June. Schools have only started to reopen this week (a couple of weeks ago in Scotland) and already the hospitality and tourism/aviation industry have been demonstrated to have led to virus spread/import and are still open whereas we are all talking about how long schools can stay open. This is not what Boris promised and not what Chris Whitty advised.

I can understand why some older people might not feel the need to be as cautious. I know one of my relatives has said at their age, time isn't on their side. They've also been directly influenced by seeing how care home residents were pretty much viewed as not worth saving. My relative and her friends are now saying they might as well risk Covid because the alternative is ending up neglected in a care home.

Long Covid doesn't worry my older relative and her friends. At least not for themselves. They're concerned about younger family members. For the elderly, a potential life long condition is less of an issue.

@Augustbreeze

I would have thought an effective way to make the young take notice would be to close all pubs and bars. This would have the double advantage of stopping the spread that's happening in some of them and showing the young that actions have consequences, ie "If you want the pub open again, follow the rules!"

Additionally it's what the government have said they'll do to keep schools open.

I know it would be awful for those businesses, but so would a lot of people dying, leading to complete lockdown again.

My daughter has just managed to get a bar job having lost her previous hospitality job in April.

So, she was earning, then she was on JSA, now she is earning again. You want to make her unemployed? So long as your content that your taxes go towards supporting her - and everyone else in a similar position- then that’s fine.

@Hereinthesticks

But it is a healthcare crisis, so sectors of the economy that are effectively facilitating the spread of the virus should be closed, especially in areas of local lockdown where the virus is less under control.

Who pays for the healthcare when whole swathed of the economy are shut down and millions of people are unemployed and not paying tax?

Swathes

@Hereinthesticks

That sector has been allowed to be open since June. Schools have only started to reopen this week (a couple of weeks ago in Scotland) and already the hospitality and tourism/aviation industry have been demonstrated to have led to virus spread/import and are still open whereas we are all talking about how long schools can stay open. This is not what Boris promised and not what Chris Whitty advised.

So pubs and restaurants have been restaurants have been open for months without numbers increasing. Why close them now?

@Hereinthesticks

But it is a healthcare crisis, so sectors of the economy that are effectively facilitating the spread of the virus should be closed, especially in areas of local lockdown where the virus is less under control.

And those sectors effectively facilitate the finance of the healthcare sector. Without tax funding and with hundreds of thousands more people people on benefits, the healthcare sector will be in an even bigger crisis.

@MadameBlobby I am confused, on the other thread about schools reopening, I am sure we had the same view on education being important and prioritised over other sectors?

I sometimes think some people come on these threads just because they enjoy arguing

Everyone says they think education should be prioritised, but obviously that has to mean other sectors close. The chief medical officer has told us this. It is irrefutable. And since those other sectors have not closed, many classes have been sent home today after only a couple of days back in scool.

@Hereinthesticks

I sometimes think some people come on these threads just because they enjoy arguing

Everyone says they think education should be prioritised, but obviously that has to mean other sectors close. The chief medical officer has told us this. It is irrefutable. And since those other sectors have not closed, many classes have been sent home today after only a couple of days back in scool.

It’s really not yo enjoy arguing. It’s because the choice is continued furlough or mass unemployment and both mean lower funding for public sector.

It’s not possible to keep everything shut but we can keep transmission down in these sectors with good mitigation. Each restaurant and pub I’ve been in has been hot on low risk.

@Hereinthesticks

I sometimes think some people come on these threads just because they enjoy arguing

Everyone says they think education should be prioritised, but obviously that has to mean other sectors close. The chief medical officer has told us this. It is irrefutable. And since those other sectors have not closed, many classes have been sent home today after only a couple of days back in scool.

But how are we going to pay for education and health care for the next 3,5,10 years if our hospitality industry is destroyed and we lose their tax revenue and have to replace all the unemployed workers’ wages with benefits?

To think all of this could've been avoided, low death rate, minimal risk of Long Covid, economy ok, schools, pubs, bars, restaurants, all open normally. All could have happened if only we'd used our island advantage. I'd be stunned if it happened now but it remains an option. If we wanted to be normalish before Christmas. We'd have to start over now with a short-term 1-2 month lockdown, then come out but with borders closed for up to 12 months. Like New Zealand, Australia, and the Isle of Man. It won't happen, too few here have the foresight (public and government alike) but it's there as an option, and it's likely better than this situation dragging on and on and on until the vaccine.

But the science that led to the big government drive today shows that it is young people in pubs and bars catching and transmitting the virus. In Bolton the local councillor was on the news saying the same (especially the young people who work in those settings). So they are not low risk in reality.
The inconsistency is in local lockdown areas. People are being restricted in their movements and not allowed to mix with other households socially. But social mixing in pubs and bars is unrestricted.

@SheepandCow yes, too late now. I was on here in June and July (different name) saying that we had 2-3 months to keep virus numbers down so that schools could reopen safely in September. The current situation of pupils being sent home without even one full week of in-school education was entirely predictable and what I was afraid of.

@Hereinthesticks

But the science that led to the big government drive today shows that it is young people in pubs and bars catching and transmitting the virus. In Bolton the local councillor was on the news saying the same (especially the young people who work in those settings). So they are not low risk in reality. The inconsistency is in local lockdown areas. People are being restricted in their movements and not allowed to mix with other households socially. But social mixing in pubs and bars is unrestricted.

So surely the most sensible approach would be for those who are vulnerable to remain vigilant and those who are not to continue as normally as possible in order to keep the economy going? The alternative is to lose businesses, employment, taxes, public funding despite there being huge numbers of the population who are continuing completely unaffected health-wise by the virus.

I don't think so. Not even the mercenary government thinks that or they wouldn't have put Matt Hancock out on every media platform going to lead the drive against the young people socialising and travelling aspect of this second wave starting to emerge. They must be genuinely concerned (just not about education).