If you were the Government, what would you do .....

[MagicSummer]

To bring the virus under control and ultimately give us back our 'old' life as far as possible?

[Honin]

Technically everywhere really, not just country side (theoretically), in populated are, most indoors area are not designed up to COVID standard, while social distancing is just another pipe dream.

[ChaChaCha2012]

Apologise. "We know we've messed up and this has cost many lives and livelihoods."

Present a long term plan of what they intend to do, and appoint experts* to manage it.

• Experts = people with proven expertise, not mates.

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

They don’t have to be designed for it, if you simply open doors and windows you will make the environment many times safer. Please stop sharing the misinformation that simple ventilation is generally unfeasible or difficult. There are buildings particularly office buildings which are hard to ventilate because they have been built without opening windows but in those cases everyone involved needs to be aware of the risks people who are spending a long time in them are running, even if they are masked all the time and 2m apart.

[Dawnlassie]

Declare and put the opposition in to bat.

[Haplap]

@downlassie, that would be a relief. However the Etonians still need to make a few more million from their hedge funds first. I don't see them budging yet.

[Ijustcantcope]

@IrmaFayLear

If things get really bad then triage would be essential. Are you seriously saying Lex345 that you would see a 90-year-old from a care home take an ICU bed ahead of a 20-year-old ?

I have been abused on other threads for this view, but I stand firm that if the worst comes to the worst and care is in very short supply age should be a factor.

I would rather my 70 year old, healthy parents in law who have followed all the rules get a bed on ICU rather than a 30/40 year old who has just gone about life as normal with no concern for anyone else to be honest.

[Orcus]

I assume most people would rather their loved one get priority for treatment over some random person.

[Ijustcantcope]

Add to that, anyone who deemed a holiday abroad essential this year or who indulge in the Eat Out To Help Out scheme more than once a week. - back of the ICU queue.

When we start talking about stopping old people taking the bus to get food then really we should be looking at all the people who have officially helped spread this.

[hoodathunkit]

I would allow students to have big raves and parties, provided that they don’t have underlying health conditions or caring responsibilities.

These would effectively be music festivals for hundreds / thousands of people where students could socialise and catch the virus and hopefully develop some immunity.

The music festivals would be held on campus and students would not be allowed to leave until they had contracted the virus and were no longer contagious.

If students might still be at risk they would be required to stay over the Christmas holiday on campus, however they would be able to party, study, socialise and have fun.

Contracts to breweries, hospitality and entertainment companies, who are suffering, would be put to tender or allocated to companies with a good record of customer service, staff welfare and H&S

Students would be encouraged (but not pressurised) to take part in vaccination trials.

I would also explore the possibility of some of the cruise ships that are currently idle being used for 6 - 8 week long music festivals over the festive period so that people at very low risk could go and party and be allowed to go back into the public arena once that they had some immunity.

Immunity is a complex thing. Herd immunity is not something to be certain about.

However, the stats show that teens and young adults are at the highest risk of contracting the virus, which is understandable, because this is the age at which people party and socialise the most with large groups of their peers.

We could see the current situation as an opportunity to use human nature against the virus. I doubt that sufficient younger adults will socially distance in such a way as to protect mover vulnerable people.

Rather that being like King Canute staying to stop the tide we need to explore how to use human behaviour to our advantage.

Just some provisional ideas. I am not a viroligist or edpiemiologist

[loobyloo1234]

Add to that, anyone who deemed a holiday abroad essential this year or who indulge in the Eat Out To Help Out scheme more than once a week. - back of the ICU queue.

How pathetic

[Orcus]

This thread is starting to read like some of you are competing to see who can be most batshit.

[hoodathunkit]

If my idea is feasible and if it works we should revitalise our economy by holding cruise ship (and possibly land) based, tightly contained music festivals for people from other countries.

All of this should be planned in relation to vaccine and epidemiological research.

We should be looking at revitaiising our holiday / hospitality sector by offering speicialist holidays and music / arts festivals in bubbles.

It makes no sense at all for people to be travelling around the country with a deadly virus spreading.

We should bring arts, parties and entertainment to the people.

Younger, more resilient people at less risk should be catered to in seperate sites from vulnerable people.

The UK used to have a flourishing arts and music scene. It is now on its knees.

I am of the opinion that it does not have to be like this.

I also think that there is a market for wellness / fitness holidays for people of all ages. I dislike the word "wellness" as it has been much misused by Gwyneth Paltrow and her ilk, however if we can leave the crystals and the vaginal steaming out of it, I think that there is an opportunity here to help the UK population to become healthier and more robust as well as providing a boost to industry

[Badbadbunny]

@loobyloo1234

Add to that, anyone who deemed a holiday abroad essential this year or who indulge in the Eat Out To Help Out scheme more than once a week. - back of the ICU queue.

How pathetic

But true!

[Badbadbunny]

@hoodathunkit

You do realise that not all young/students want to party? Not sure why you'd want to force them to party and catch covid against their will. In fact, most students don't want to go to raves etc - it's just that a significant minority do and they're the ones that get noticed.

As for "students would not be allowed to leave until they had contracted the virus" words fail me.

[SaskiaRembrandt]

I'd close down the national track and trace system and use the money to fund localised schemes.

I'd set up a system similar to the blue badge scheme to give people who are exempt from wearing a mask some way of demonstrating that.

[hoodathunkit]

You do realise that not all young/students want to party? Not sure why you'd want to force them to party and catch covid against their will. In fact, most students don't want to go to raves etc - it's just that a significant minority do and they're the ones that get noticed.

I am not suggesting forcing all students to party. However those that do want to mix, whether it's at a rave or at, say a festival of theatre, could choose to do so on the basis that they stay there until they are no longer contageous.

As for "students would not be allowed to leave until they had contracted the virus" words fail me.

If they choose to attend a big event with their peers then those are the terms

I am not suggesting forcing people to attend, simply making use of the tendency of many young people to want to party, whether students or not

[Hardbackwriter]

The great thing about this thread is that it shows that actually, our government could be doing a worse job than it is... So many terrifyingly bad ideas here, ranging from the creation of a fascist police state with butchers at the front line of enforcement to ageist mass murder, and then there's the ones that aren't actively harmful but are so stupid that it's worrying (why don't we 'just' test 68 million people in two weeks?!). It feels like the people in government have no expertise or judgement at all, but when you see what a random selection of the public comes up with you realise that their advisors are doing some good after all!

[loobyloo1234]

But true!

Do you realise @Badbadbunny how many hispitality businesses would have gone under without Eat Out to Help Out? Get your nose out of your arse

[IrmaFayLear]

Crikey, I really, really hope ijustcantcope lives up to their name and doesn’t get a government advisory post. Anyone who has eaten out is to be scorned?!

Oh yes, let’s prioritise all the I’m all right, jack persons who have sat at home happy to have others service them

[GrumblyMumblyisnotJumbly]

@Hardbackwriter just because some random people on the internet would do a worse job does not mean the Government are making the best policy decisions though!

[IceCreamAndCandyfloss]

We should have quarantine like NZ where you have to pay to stay for 14 days no exceptions. It would stop a lot of travel and catch any cases being bought in. I was shocked at the amount who thought a holiday was a good idea or essential in the current climate.

[Hardbackwriter]

[quote GrumblyMumblyisnotJumbly]@Hardbackwriter just because some random people on the internet would do a worse job does not mean the Government are making the best policy decisions though![/quote]
Oh no, absolutely, it's just that I was genuinely starting to think that randomers off the street would do a better job than the government - but it turns out I hadn't realised how many people are absolute lunatics!

[GrumblyMumblyisnotJumbly]

@Hardbackwriter I agree - batshit aplenty just in time for Halloween.

[StatisticalSense]

@Orcus
Maybe the local butchers proudly advertising that they are selling (and taking non refundable deposits on) turkeys suitable for feeding 24 people has unreasonably annoyed me but if butchers cannot be more responsible than to act in such a way maybe they do need legally restricting.

[Orcus]

[quote StatisticalSense]@Orcus
Maybe the local butchers proudly advertising that they are selling (and taking non refundable deposits on) turkeys suitable for feeding 24 people has unreasonably annoyed me but if butchers cannot be more responsible than to act in such a way maybe they do need legally restricting.[/quote]
It doesn't become a less batshit idea because you're annoyed by them. All that people who want a lot of meat and other foodstuffs would do is shop in more than one place. If I wanted enough meat for 24 people and your rule came in, I'd either use the freezer or, if I wanted it fresh, just go round enough butchers and other food shops to get what I required. It's completely and totally pointless.