Chris Whitty to hold briefing tomorrow

[molifly14]

According to sky news, Chris Witty is to hold a briefing tomorrow and will not be joined by any members of the cabinet or Boris Johnson and won't take questions. He will apparently discuss different scenarios.

Does that sound odd to anyone else and does this maybe mean no further restrictions this week, let's just try and scare us all into being good instead?

Link: Coronavirus: 'Critical point' in pandemic as UK infection rate heading in wrong direction, says chief medical officer news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-critical-point-in-pandemic-as-uk-infection-rate-heading-in-wrong-direction-says-chief-medical-officer-12077482

[quote namechanged984630]@MadameBlobby the answer to your question is that most cases are transmitted in the home where people are not social distancing. Most workplaces require SD by law. [/quote]
I understand this, as I think I indicated in a subsequent post. Judging by the “why can I meet my mum in the pub but not her house” comments I read I don’t think that rationale has been made clear enough.

@ChicCroissant. I'll be crossing many body parts for Whitty to resign on the spot

Why the actual hell would you want that?

I think this is a really good idea. Should have come earlier. Restrictions need to come with the science behind them.

The number of threads/memes I’ve had ridiculing pubs shutting at 10. The whole, “I can go to work/school, but I can’t see my family etc” is worrying, I hope when people see the science and data about rates of transmission they will adhere to the guidance better.

@Oaktree55

Just a quick read of threads on here shows how an Idiots Guide to Pandemics, which is obviously what Whitty and Valance are doing is actually much needed.

There’s so much ignorance and misunderstanding about what’s happening they’ll stand there with their graphs trying to explain it.

Unfortunately neither are great communicators and there’ll still be the idiotic posts on here saying “my local hospitals empty I don’t know what all the fuss is about”

Yep!

Most scientists and epidemiologists expect a vaccine next year sometime

They aren't a bunch of iresponsible fools or mass-murderers, as the anti-vaccine conspiracies would have us believe
A dodgy Covid vaccine would make people avoid established vaccines, so taking big risks makes no sense for publci health authorities

It may be only 50% effective and will need tuning over the next few years to increase efficiency,
but giving a good amouint of immunity to even 50% of the population would dramatically reduce R and enable life to return more to normal

[quote MJMG2015]**@ChicCroissant. I'll be crossing many body parts for Whitty to resign on the spot

Why the actual hell would you want that?[/quote]
Because he’s got no integrity. People keep saying about how uncomfortable he looks when BJ is talking, how he doesn’t believe in what they’re doing etc. If I was so at odds with what my employer was bulldozing through in an emergency I’d quit, not stand there looking uncomfortable. And he can take that idiot Harries with him as well.

@CrocodilesCry

I don't get why its rising with SD and masks

Because people are passing it within households when they gather with friends and family. Overwhelmingly that is where/how it is spreading.

People don't want to hear this - THAT's the problem!!

@Forgone90

The biggest issue is there is no balance when whitty talks.... If we had 2 different speeches.. One from whitty and one from rishi, they would be completely different speeches and would Make people feel completely different than the other.

Whitty sole job is to get cases and deaths as low as possible so that 0.3% of the population survive this, where as rishis job is to make sure that millions of jobs are not lost, the economy doesn't tank and the future of our children is not spent paying for the covid years....

Personally I'm on the side of the economy but understand people on the other side. There is no way that can please everyone here.

No. We need numbers to be as low as possible to support economic activity. The health of the nation directly impacts on how business can function. You can't have one and not the other.

I think they will try and hold off further restrictions until absolutely necessary. They want the public to get scared again. We have a whole autumn and winter of this. :(

The vast percentage of the working population are not in the vulnerable category, they are needed to keep the economy going not to stop working and potentially end up being made redundant. That does not make economic sense. It opens up a whole can of other social and economic issues that will take way longer to fix than it takes to get a vaccine.

@BabyLlamaZen agree. If they go to another lockdown now (on current numbers) we are basically going to be in lockdown (maybe with a couple of weeks reprieve in between) till Spring. The economy will crash. Mass unemployment.

@MadameBlobby

So if the spread isn’t slowing what’s the point of masks? Can anyone explain? And an answer better than “because no one is wearing them”, because having been in various areas across the U.K. in the last few weeks, the vast vast majority of people most certainly are.

Because if masks weren't being worn, the statistics would be even worse

AND

Most spread is occurring between friends & family where social distancing & mask wearing isn't happening.

The government has to consider public health, the economy and education
... but they are all inter-related
so we need a balance of what best helps them all / does the least damage

@RealityExistsInTheHumanMind

He's certainly not 'Witty'

The guy is getting hooked on power. He is a fucking advisor, it's not up to him.

Grow up.

He's been asked to give a presentation. He's not making decisions about how we progress, nor is he claiming to.

Yes it is a balancing act. At this point only considering driving numbers low means lock downs, which cost in other big areas - jobs, education, economy

We need to remember that
none of us here know as much about epidemiology and viruses as Whitty
or as much about the economy as Rishi

(BJ knows fuck all about anything, especially running a country)

... and Dido Harding knows less than fuck all about running anything

• but seems to be given the (lucrative) jobs of running everything

Chumocracy in action.

Yep tg for Whitty and Sunak

Hancock doing well turning up every couple of days on radio

Because people are passing it within households when they gather with friends and family. Overwhelmingly that is where/how it is spreading

You don't know that and even if true, where are they getting it from???

Nothing to do with people sitting in and around pubs restaurants, in close proximity to each other...... or people with symptoms, unable to test and continuing with their daily lives....

The Govt message is that its all our fault, when in fact its theirs, failure to test, track and isolate, advising us all to stop WFH and go back to the office, use public transport and most bizarrely "eat out to help out"

Viruses spread through increased social contact and Johnson has encouraged us to increase our socialising since june/july.

"Viruses spread through increased social contact and Johnson has encouraged us to increase our socialising since june/july."

Only the kind of socialisation when people spend money
and fuck anyone who is too skint to do that - they don't deserve to go out

It’s easy to see repress everywhere except economic benefit

I don’t know why not since it’s the same people who are going to get it when jobs start going. It’s not an abstract economy that we are not part of.

There’s not much else that can be done as a way through it

If I was so at odds with what my employer was bulldozing through in an emergency I’d quit, not stand there looking uncomfortable.
I guess that’s the difference between trying to help and trying to protect yourself. Honestly LTB is NOT always an option.

“Because people are passing it within households when they gather with friends and family. Overwhelmingly that is where/how it is spreading”

You don't know that and even if true, where are they getting it from???

Well presumably when someone tests positive they write dow all their contacts and then if they test positive they think “perhaps they caught it from each other?”, and then they use their brains and think “what were they doing when they met”, and some bright spark said “a large proportion are catching it at home”.

I’m even more worried now as they put Grant Shapps on BBC breakfast, he usually goes out in a most shitty moments when the government needs the best liar. And tbh he copes with this extremely well.

We are in a very difficult position if looking at deaths we are at the same point as week before lockdown in March even though now we have PPE, dexamethone, etc. Of course, it’s different in different parts but people are moving and university autumn term will start in a week or so (depending where you are). So it could spiral to spring level very quickly.
I agree with PPs that we need more enforcement of the measures. Why the fines are introduced from 28th? They could be easily introduced from last Sunday.

I was on the way to DD’s school through our town centre on Friday - it was full of people and no one kept SD, I felt exhausted trying to “steer” through the crowds.

I keep reading about this "circuit break" lockdown during October half-term, but I can't see how this would work when the half-term dates are different in different places?

I'm in Scotland, so we've been back for six weeks already, and our October break is a fortnight long, starting on Friday 9 October.

If it was something of great importance that they needed people to see, why air it at 11am on a Monday when the majority will be working and not sat watching tv... Surely lunchtime would have been a better bet or early evening.