What would you do if you were put in charge tomorrow

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Just that really. There seems to be so many conflicting views on everything. I don't think the government are doing a great job but whenever they do anything somebody somewhere is up in arms. Yesterday it was he night time economy lobby, earlier in the year it was the travel companies.

So what would you actually do to try and sort this utter mess out.

Hide in a cupboard and refuse to come out!

More seriously... Ask school leaders to come with a part time schooling plan for Yrs R- 10, with childcare provision for those who need it. Yr11+ to be prioritised for smaller group teaching
Stop international leisure travel.
Encourage work from home.

Err... I don't know really. All answers damage someone's livelihood.

National lockdown.

I think this is part of the problem for anyone in charge to be honest. They are damned if they make a decision, they are damned if they don’t.

The scientists have one view.
The economists have another view.

The politicians need to balance out everything, but they can’t keep everyone satisfied.

Whilst I think the government have handled things spectacularly badly, I am not sure how they (or any other U.K. party) could have done any better.

If you are vulnerable, then shield and we will support you.

Otherwise... everyone else completely back to normal.

I'd have invested the £11bn or whatever it is that furlough cost into better measures to protect the NHS and the vulnerable e.g. manufacturing PPE, nationalised food delivery services for those that need to shield, paying carers, Logistics done from home by people who are capable but need to shield.

For everyone who isnt vulnerable it's back to normal work and school with Covid measures e.g. WFH where possible, social distancing, masks and proper cleaning.

The first thing I'd do is apologise for the last six months. No one has any faith in the mixed messages, the constant blame game, and as a result there's no appetite for any further measures and there's zero community spirit. If a leader stood up and acknowledged this (and explained how it will not happen again), we'll be far stronger going forward.

I know they're not practical measures, but behavioural science is key to the success of any government policy. Piss off the majority of the population and you've got a massive uphill struggle ahead of you.

Fire Dominic Cummings.

Part time schooling - one week online, one week In school so that class sizes can be halved. The same for universities.
Some sort of universal income to be given to everyone with a non essential business so that they can close down until next spring without going bankrupt.
Improve track and trace (and stop referring to it as an NHS organisation).
Fines for anyone at all who breaks the rules. Minimum of 3k to put the fear of God into people, especially the Covid deniers.
Two week’s isolation if you want to enter this country and by that I mean armed escorts off the plane and housed in a hotel for two weeks until testing clears you.
No holiday makers in or out without rigorous testing.
Clear rules in multiple languages.

@Afibtomyboy

If you are vulnerable, then shield and we will support you.

Otherwise... everyone else completely back to normal.

How exactly do you shield the vulnerable with a virus running rampant? Even if you desperately wanted to you really can't just never leave the house. In the past week we've had to go to two different banks to sort out some stuff that couldn't be done over the phone, I've had to go for a chest x-ray and I've had to take one of our cats to the vet. The cat's going to need to go back to the vet to have a tooth out, I need lung function testing (which is aerosol producing), I need a lymph node biopsy, I need regular blood tests and I'm overdue seeing the dental hygienist which will probably cause issues eventually. The more clinically vulnerable you are the more you need to interact with HCPs and the less hermetically sealing yourself off from the outside world is feasible.

Massively increase testing
Proper track and trace system
Ban indoor mixing of household across the UK
Properly monitoring business to be COVID secure
Close indoor exercise classes/gyms
Ban travel outside of borough other than for essential reasons
Make under 11s exempt from SD and exclude from the rule of 6

Prioritise testing and track and trace, including establishing local TTT networks. Dump Moonshit.
Targeted furlough
Request treaty amendment to allow extension of transition period

Close (or force homeworking where possible) everything apart from essential services. Include schools as essential.

People can take their dc to school. People can go to work (if essential). That's all there is.

Furlough those who need it.

Do things New Zealand/Isle of Man style. Proper lockdown for six weeks, as in we all stay in our own homes only leaving for necessities. National basic income paid to all for that time. Anyone who wants to enter from abroad has to quarantine for 14 days at a government approved site for the foreseeable future (we could use halls of residence, plenty of cafes etc who could provide food).

Manufacture 70 million space suits with 3 weeks supply of air. Enforce everyone to wear it. Ban anyone entering it leaving the country. Job done.

Do away with party politics.Get the best round a physical table. Nightly,brief information.Clear,straight forward delivered with empathy.

Do a New Zealand. I still firmly believe that as well as saving many lives, this is also better for the economy in the long run.

I’d give everyone who was told to shield £2k/month. That way the most vulnerable can be protected.

I’d give everyone else £1k/month. That way nobody has zero income.

There would be anomalies of course, with some shielders able to WFH and some non-shielders not able to work, but protecting the most vulnerable protects the NHS from turning into CovidHS, and that benefits all of society.

I would limit social interaction to two households at a time. Same indoors and outdoors.

Lead from the front. Admit mistakes. Admit limits. Form a cross party alliance.

Throw everything at treatment and vaccine research.

Make this academic year two years long across the board.

Cancel business rates/rents for businesses unable to open.

Postpone Brexit, if possible.

UBI would be a start. Many of those fulltime regular jobs will never come back, their will still be work but it will be flexible, part time, self employed work. People will need UBI to make it work, this goes well beyond covid and was coming with or without the pandemic.

Remove devolution for Scotland and Wales for Covid related issues (and encourage NI to follow the same rules as the republic) to increase clarity. Remove all exemptions to the rule of six relating to school aged children outside of schooling (kids sports clubs, swimming, scouts etc), as schooling is essential, provides sufficient social interaction, and is particularly high risk compared to other permitted activities. Abolish the curfew on the hospitality industry for which there is no scientific basis but keep restrictions relating to table service for people eating in (while allowing counter service for take-away orders). Introduce a limited exemption to the rule of six allow a consistent group of adults to play organised recreational basketball (including wheelchair basketball), netball, and wheelchair rugby indoors, due to the impact organised sport can have on reducing gang membership and knife crime as well as the mental health benefits. Redefine the support group exemption to the rule of six to specifically exclude weight loss groups (except for those aimed at people recovering from eating disorders). Ban all gatherings in private households and restrict support bubbles to single adults living alone without children (and in such cases the support household must either be a parent (including anybody who had parental responsibility when the person was growing up), sibling, long term partner or adult child unless the person has no contact with any of those to restrict the realistic size of a support bubble.

Let the army run the test, track and trace, or set up one that works and that does not leave people waiting too long for tests and results. I'd do a targeted furlough so those that have to shield or those in industries that will be seriously impacted will be able to pay bills and live. I would issue huge fines for non compliance and ban indoor mixing of households with the exeptuin of single person support bubbles. I would make extra money available for those groups disproportionately impacted such as children and families who already live below the poverty line.

Close all schools immediately.
Put together teams of subject specialists to design and roll out an online curriculum that is completely standardised across all schools, including Eton!
Close all non essential businesses.
Implement the universal basic income.
Stop paying furlough especially up to £2500 per employee.
Suspend all evictions.
Close boarders to all non essential travellers.
Extra financial support directed towards families with children, and ensure that mothers are paid this allowance.
Extra funding made available to refuges for women and children.
I would give financial incentives to male workers who are prepared to undertake "key worker" roles ie low paid public facing, caring, nursing and shop working roles. I would like to see the burden of caring shared equally, whilst also acknowledging that women have been disproportionately effected financially and often carrying a higher burden of risk.
I would encourage outside essential work that could be said to carry a lower risk whilst having greater benefits to health, welfare and the environment.
I would implement strict travel rules
Masks to be worn in all settings outside of your own home.
I would force GP services to triage better so they could offer more f2f appointments.
Manage hospitals nationally so that not all hospitals used their ITU for covid
Get rid of useless 111 and its equally useless advice to stay home, turn blue, drop dead. If you can't breathe ring an ambulance....end of.
Stop all financial assistance that shores up essentially what are dying businesses.
Create new jobs that have real societal value.
Give start up funds to cooperatives where their core business has a clear social good.
Provide school places to vulnerable children, and those of key workers only.
Lock down for 6 weeks, but allowing family bubbles of up to three households to support each other, with no restriction on them meeting outside.

At the end of the day this economy is not capable of putting human life first.....so its a bad economic system. If something doesn't serve the interests of human welfare, health and human dignity then it has no right existing. Capitalism doesn't serve the interest of human life anymore because to save the economy we would have to throw many thousands of lives under a bus.

Exception that should say

@StatisticalSense

That might work if the UK had an effective government and not the clown who is currently in No 10.