how would you have handled covid if you were pm ?

[warmandtoasty2day]

so many boris slaggers on here and arm chair scientists, but i'm curious to know how would you have done from the start in dealing with this?
i'm an ordinary person in the street, good education, up to now, life time of common sense and have had a large family but i wouldn't begin to know where to begin on this one .

*what you would have done.

I would have shut the borders apart from freight. I also prior to the pandemic wouldn’t have had the NHS and police on their kneeS. I would have followed advice from the mock pandemic scenario a few years ago. The NHS would have coped better as we’d have had fewer cases and more staff, more efficient services. The police would have been able to enforce restrictions. I’d have introduced masks early on by ignoring WHO and following the countries who dealt with it effectively. Schools may have been on a rota but staff and pupils above a certain age would have worn masks. I’d have gained the respect of the people by not leaking things to the press

and you wouldn't have had half the idots in your party either. esp. cummings !
sounds like you have good all round idea .

One no brainer would have been to track people coming in on flights and make them quarantine properly back in March. Other countries did.

Also, given contracts out on the basis of competence instead of to people who know little but are mates with Cabinet ministers.

There you go, two points for improvement already.

Despite your name @Indecisive12 you sound pretty decisive! And reasonable. Unlike our government

Well I admit I wouldn't want the job but frankly it would be difficult to do a worse job. Just for starters.

1. make sure I had a cabinet fit for purpose rather than full of my brexit mates. Probably got some experienced former cabinet members on board, possibly from the other side.
2. Actually listen to what SAGE are telling me, and what other countries are doing, and take action there and then rather than 3 weeks later when it's arguably too late
3. Not have historically underfunded the NHS and Public health teams for years leading up to this (I don't blame Boris for this, but do blame the tories)
4. Been far more honest with everyone rather than letting everyone speculate wildly for days before finding out what's actually going on.

Not making any promises eg 'this will be gone by Easter etc' unless I was absolutely sure of it.

1. Probably be a bit more lax with the rules (eg letting people bubble up with 2 other households) but ensuring proper enforcement of them.

I’d have shut the borders in January. Like anyone with half a brain cell was suggesting.

And everything that @Indecisive12 said!

Kept the rules simple abs stop changing them causing confusing

Borders shut to any nome residences
Everyone in isolation for 14 days on return - make it clear that isolation means separate room/bathroom etc
Encouraged British industry to help, make PPE, set up deliveries of food, etc easier,
Ask local councils to set up their own track and trace system and ask those in contact to stay home and isolate for 14 days

Employ or redeploy workers to help with the Covid effort -

Everyone in isolation for 14 days on return - make it clear that isolation means separate room/bathroom etc

And there is the first flaw in your plan. What do people do if they don’t have a separate bedroom and bathroom? And how do you police it?

Not quite so easy...

The main things I would have done:

Appoint a cabinet of the best people in the party, not just on whether they supported Brexit. So of the current cabinet, possibly Ben Wallace, maybe Michael Gove, none of the rest.
Stopped large scale gatherings at least a week before the Liverpool game and the Cheltenham Festival.
Closed pubs at least a week earlier.
When the first so-called lockdown came, exercise would only be in walking and cycling distance.
Closed airports, or have quarantine in a hotel room as done in Australia.
Not fined failure to comply, had travel bans and/or driving bans. Even if magistrates courts had to sit at weekends.
Engaged the police and legal teams to discuss what enforcement works best.
No exceptions on face coverings other than face shields as an alternative. Shops would have the same obligations as they do about alcohol to refuse service.
Not had students return to universities as per SAGE 21 September proposal.
Closed schools two weeks before Christmas.

Probably a few other things as well.

Above all, set an example- face coverings worn in the House of Commons, to and from press conferences (the advisors would not even have been in the same room), and sacked any minister or advisor who was in breach of the rules.

I'm an ordinary person in the street with a good education too. The first thing I would've done: acknowledge I don't have a clue what to do and set up a Covid taskforce containing scientists, senior nurses, epidemiologists etc and politicians who were actually any good (so in this case it would be a cross party group because there are about 3 Tory politicians who know where their arses are currently). Have them come up with a plan.

@BlairCorneliaWaldorf hence for me it would have been isolation in hotels, as they were available, would have given business to hospitality, and a lot of those abroad would have stayed put, so less people on the planes remaining.

What they all said. Proper track and trace from the start, with quarantine legally required and rigorous checking that people were staying where they were supposed to be. That's what South Korea did and they have had a fraction of the cases we've had.

Early ban on big events like the Cheltenham race meet, football and other sports matches and that big concert in March.

Being competent and honest would have helped.

Lockdown early, people and borders.
Universal basic income (or something working on that model) to ensure everyone had an income. Easier to administer and far less scope for fraud.
Ensuring pandemic readiness after the 2016 report (Cygnus?) made it clear we were not prepared.
Not underfunding the NHS for years, valuing healthcare workers so more people wanted to stay in the profession. We already had thousands of vacancies before the pandemic.
As above for education.
Not handing contracts out to people/ companies with zero experience in their given field!

The response from the NHS and most of the civil service has been excellent. But we're completely lacking in leadership. I can't think of any cabinet member that comes out of this well.

@warmandtoasty2day I'm no admirer of Cummings or his rule breaking, but apparently he was telling Boris to follow the Sage advice for the September circuit break and thought it stupid he listened to the Chancellor etc that the economy was more important at that point (look where we are now though!) - this disagreement on the pandemic was more the reason for his departure than any bullshit about carrie and dogs portrayed in the tabloids.

I would have stopped flights landing from China in January. I would have accepted that this country has allowed 40-60% of the population to become vitamin D deficient and tackled that. I would have assumed that the majority are deficient at the end of the UK winter and started fortifying foods and getting supplements out to the vulnerable and elderly. I would have given a clear public message bto everyone else to supplement with a high dose. There is no way I'd intentionally lead a nation into a pandemic where the virus attacks the respiratory system while their immunity is low.
I'd have learnt from Italy in January and February and ringfence care he's with lockdowns, not allowing staff to work in more than one home.
I'd have used an existing track and trace platform already proven in Asia.
PPE was the tough one - most was made in China and the UK was cut off from supplies. Presumably there were recommendations in the pandemic reports of 2 years earlier that were ignored.
In February when we realised it was spreading from ski resorts, I would have shut all borders except for freight. It would have seemed an anti-business and anti civil liberty move at the time. Considering the cost since, it would have been cheap.

I’d have communicated a clear and consistent strategy and spent far more on making sure there was very clear messaging on what we were collectively doing and why.

While I have a fair degree of tolerance for some of the decision making, particularly as we have the benefit of hindsight, I cannot get over the absolutely poor communications and strategy.

Two more:

Allowing experts to give their opinion without fear of losing their jobs. Scientists should not be influenced by politics.
Test and trace administered by local authorities as a first step, not details passed to them a week later when Serco failed to make contact. You need people that understand local demographics, not some faceless virtual call centre.

Taking initiative instead of waiting to see what other countries were doing and closing down pubs, schools, etc one week later than everyone else.

Effective testing and quarantine system for those flying into the country. There still isn't one, 10 months into this, and people aren't fined for breaking quarantine.

Compulsory mask wearing in April, when it became clear it helped reduce spread. No waiting until July, two months after restrictions started being lifted - by this point no one was listening anymore as they were going about their 'normal' lives just as before.

Clear rules around mask exemption. Too many people decide they're exempt when they really aren't, in other countries you carry a medical certificate stating you're exempt. People should be challenged for refusing to not wear a mask when they are able to.

Clear rules around travelling from a high incidence area to a lower one. Same as above, you should be asked why your journey is essential.

Fines for breaking the rules and putting others in danger.

Comprehensive financial support for the self-employed, people at the beginning of their careers, university students with no parental support, early on in the pandemic. Some of these groups still haven't received a penny and have struggled throughout.

A competent team of advisors and ministers who lead by example, instead of taking trips across the country to check their eye sight. The general public might then respect their politicians and be more likely to abide by the rules.

Another vote for border control. A negative test before you can board a flight to the UK and, while infection rates are so high, 7 day quarantine at a fixed address with proper checks carried out and a fine sufficiently large to dissuade people from not complying. Not letting people arrive from overseas and jump onto the tube or buses.

Allowing grandparents who are vaccinated to spend time with their grandchildren indoors.

Before the pandemic even began, I would have appointed a cabinet of actual competent experts, not just some docile sycophants, to support me. I'd have listened to the advice from the 2016 report into pandemic response, and implemented their recommendations. I'd have an appropriately funded nhs and public services which would be in a better position to cope. I'd listen to advice from abroad, and from WHO instead of Pooh-poohing the idea of a pandemic, bragging about my lack of basic steps to minimise transmission and missing crisis meetings. I'd have put health and lives before protecting millionaires profits. I'd have used public funds to secure the best and most secure contracts, instead of handing billions of ££ out to friends, and spouses of friends, or party donors, who were not up the the task and failed over and over again to produce. I'd make all my ministers follow the guidelines we expected every member of the public to follow, and I'd fire them if they didn't. I wouldn't have allowed Cheltenham to go ahead, or other mass gatherings in March, and I'd have closed borders until I'd secured a system of checks on entry. I'd have invested in track and trace system fully.

Yet another who would have closed the borders completely back in January. UK residents only would have been allowed back in if they were already abroad, and they would have been put under supervised 14 day quarantine.

Proper enforcement of lockdown and no travelling within the UK unless it really is essential - use the army to spot-check vehicles.

Anyone who is exempt from wearing a mask must carry a medical certificate obtained from their GP.

Had a strategy that wasn’t leave things open to the last possible minute and ‘whack a mole’

Worth bearing in mind, for context, perhaps, is that the first reports of an strange respiratory disease effecting some in China didn't start appearing in the UK press until the second week of January......

and on that subject banning flights from China would have had a limited effect on spread into the UK - that wouldn't stop those who travelled to the UK from places such as Singapore, the Gulf, "Mainland" Europe.

However I would probably have started lockdown 1 at least a week earlier than UK gov did with stricter controls at airports even earlier than that.