Chris Whitty saying even tier 3 probably wont be enough to reduce the R

[KetoPenguin]

What do you think this means for areas in tier 3, total lockdown? How soon do you think this would happen and how likely is it for tier 2 areas to be upgraded to the same level? Do you think the much rumoured circuit breaker over half term is likely at least in these areas?

@Feelingconfused2020

He doesn't have a plan other than argh high numbers we look bad lock down! He does have a plan. The SAGE document clearly states that he wants a 2/3 week circuit breaker lockdown and universities to teach online. He also thinks households shouldn't mix.

Right until when? A vaccine? Does he know when that will be? What will a circuit breaker do? It'll just be a step in the aforementioned lockdown hokey cokey. Kicking the can further down the road.

This is not a long term plan.

@Willyoujustbequiet

Tier 3 wont work without closing/changing the schools and unis.

Its like moving the deckchairs on the titanic when you could avoid the iceberg in the first place.

Is there not a downside to ending all education?

And you do know that if you close the schools then the parents have to stay home and look after those children.

Some of those parents are the people performing your surgery, supplying your food, electricity, medicines etc.

That was why we couldn't have total lockdown in the first place though lots of people said they wanted it.

I’m in the Central belt in Scotland we already have stricter restrictions than Tier 3 supposed to be only for 16 days but the gossip is it’s for longer.

It’s October holidays here and Nicola Sturgeon said people could still go on holiday if they had one booked but we weren’t to travel out our health board area, according to my FB every man and his dog seems to have gone to the Highlands, Borders and even down to England this week! I’m wondering how that will affect the figures next week??

Close secondary school or have them and colleges blended.
Keep primary going as long as possible but remove fines and let people take their dc out if they can.

@sweetkitty

I’m in the Central belt in Scotland we already have stricter restrictions than Tier 3 supposed to be only for 16 days but the gossip is it’s for longer.

It’s October holidays here and Nicola Sturgeon said people could still go on holiday if they had one booked but we weren’t to travel out our health board area, according to my FB every man and his dog seems to have gone to the Highlands, Borders and even down to England this week! I’m wondering how that will affect the figures next week??

Im wondering how this will affect schools when they go back :( All those children going in to all sorts of areas then coming back with more than a souvenir.

What we need is enough tests to test all the close contacts of each positive person, but our government can't manage it so we're screwed.

Example - my cousin sees her dad on his birthday. 2 days later he tests positive. Cousin now isolates at home with her mother, who is a carer. Cousin can't get a test. Mother can't get a test. Mother has to go to work with vulnerable elderly people until cousin gets symptoms. Absolute madness.

TrustTheGeneGenie, its not strictly true to argue that lockdown will cause cancer deaths.

Lockdown in and of itself is not directly causative of other deaths. Hospital trusts and dept of health needed to halt the exponential rise in covid to prevent hospitals becoming over run with covid positive patients requiring ITU, and turning up in emergency to infect others. Non acute, elective and non emergency treatments were put on hold or significantly reduced to 1) provide capacity for acute and for covid admissions. 2) to prevent very as many vulnerable people coming into contact with covid positive patients.......remember the slogans? save the NHS?

If we allow covid rates to continue to rise and it goes unchallenged then we will definitely not have an NHS available to other non covid acute, elective or non emergency cases.

The government are certainly NOT listening to Whitty. I have just watched the clip. He looks quite anxious. If it is he who wants lockdowns and Bojo was only listening to him, we would have lockdown. It seems that he is very cautiously conveying that in his opinion these measures (tier system) will not work. He can not come out in the media and public as directly challenging Bojo and pals......but i bet he wishes he could!

Why on earth NS didnt impose travel restrictions i have no idea. Totally foolhardy. I read that people were travelling to other areas to go to pubs and bars.

CW is calm, factual and highly respected. You might not like what’s he’s saying, but he knows a lot more than anyone on here.

I think CW does know what he is saying. Thats the worry. The govt arent listening!

Mr doom and gloom can f* off he isn't going to be pushed into poverty by these rules, lose his job, his life savings ir a business he built up.

Testing isn't accurate, the numbers reported include deaths from flu if you dig down in the data enough you will see that

Until we have better testing accuracy and better reporting of actual deaths from covid 9 he can naff off

In a month when the student towns figures drop because they have all had it the government will of course take the credit for it.

@TrustTheGeneGenie no Chris witty isn’t the one making himself look thick.

@Pomegranatespompom

CW is calm, factual and highly respected. You might not like what’s he’s saying, but he knows a lot more than anyone on here.

Agreed. They’ve been ignoring since the start of August when he said that we were at our limit of what we could open.

@neveradullmoment99

Why on earth NS didnt impose travel restrictions i have no idea. Totally foolhardy. I read that people were travelling to other areas to go to pubs and bars.

Not sure why they’d bother since you can’t get an alcoholic drink in any of them indoors

@sweetkitty

I’m in the Central belt in Scotland we already have stricter restrictions than Tier 3 supposed to be only for 16 days but the gossip is it’s for longer.

It’s October holidays here and Nicola Sturgeon said people could still go on holiday if they had one booked but we weren’t to travel out our health board area, according to my FB every man and his dog seems to have gone to the Highlands, Borders and even down to England this week! I’m wondering how that will affect the figures next week??

There’s no chance whatsoever this is for 16 days. Now the financial support for wages is in place she’ll keep everything shut for 6 months.

Absolutely right.

Of course he should be listened to. He's the best hope we've got... I don't see anyone else senior to him to carry the can?

Of course the press conferences need the CW or one of his deputies to answer questions on the medical side of things- Matt Hancock or Dido Harding is not qualified to give answers and would probably prefer the CMO to answer questions of that nature .

I thought that in theory the PM listened to SAGE about the science and Sunak with regards to the economy and tried to come up with solutions that were a mix of both sides of the argument. CW has said on many occasions that he advises on the medical issues but its elected politicians who make the final decisions. It's quite right that he advises on his expertise while Sunak advises on his. My impression is that Johnson's decisions are not what Sunak or Whitty would have chosen if they were PM.

Not all places in Scotland are restricted.
You can still get drinks in other areas outdoors i think! It was in the news.

CW looks like he'd rather be anywhere else, in these press conferences and briefings with Boris. And I'm guessing that it's because he's having to front something that he believes to be entirely wrong.

Can you imagine standing there as a professional at the top of your field while Boris waffles on and on, and being expected to back him when you believe him to be a total clown?

@MadameBlobby speaking to two public and at the weekend, they said the financial help won’t even cover their monthly rent never mind all the other costs, they are on their knees and will go under if it goes on any longer but the word it there’s no way this is only for 16 days

Publicans

Chris Whitty's view is one of many. We need to not go bust, too.

And the numbers very much led by students. 10 cases for the past reported week where I live cf over 400 in the MSOA less than a mile away where most of the university colleges are.

@neveradullmoment99

I think CW does know what he is saying. Thats the worry. The govt arent listening!

This exactly.

I wouldn't trade places with him, my conscious would not allow me. I'd have walked away by now. In no way do he and government share the same concerns.

This is the issue he doesn't care about the wider issues because as you say he is only paid to care about covid. But that doesn't make for a balanced or efficient reaction. He doesn't care if his measures mean that more people die of cancer, more children to hungry or more women are abused.

I strongly disagree with this. CW is chief medical officer, not chief covid officer. He absolutely has consideration for other medical conditions like cancer and issues like abuse (both of which would obviously worsen as cases rise anyway). He has always emphasised the impact of ecomomic problems on long term health, and always said that all-cause mortality is the key figure to consider. Covid cases rising will trash the economy and health care for non covid conditions, equally taking the wrong or unecessary steps to control covid will do harm. They may not be getting the steps right....but to say he isn't considering the wider picture doesn't reflect what he has been saying at all, nor does it take account of the damage exponential rise in covid will do to education/economy/wider health etc.