Current Affairs Coronavirus Thread - Serious stuff !!!

[Toast]

Telegraph leading with an article that primary schools may well reopen on the 1st June if the current decline in infections continues.

That would be good.
Would help transition to senior schools too hopefully.

 

[PhilM]

That would be good.
Would help transition to senior schools too hopefully.

I think it would be good for many children and their parents as well, which would have a boost to the economy with people going back to work.

However, I know my children can’t adequately social distance, so I would be concerned whether it’d have an impact on infection rates etc

 

[maccavennie]

I think it would be good for many children and their parents as well, which would have a boost to the economy with people going back to work.

However, I know my children can’t adequately social distance, so I would be concerned whether it’d have an impact on infection rates etc

Yeah that's a concern of mine currently plus what @Toast said as well. My lads moving to senior school and of there was no school from now until then it's a massive jump. Also worry about care for the kids as my mother in law normally has the kids 2 days a week but she's over 70 and wouldn't want to put her at risk.

A lot of things to think about, things I worry about (which I'm sure we all do) but hopefully if we are putting one step in front of the other each day we will be getting closer to some kind of normality for not just ourselves, but our kids as well.

 

[Armaghtoffee]

We have a town centre shop. About 2000sq ft. We get about 5 or 6 customers per day, rarely two at once. They buy or drop work off for us to do and two weeks later they turn up to pick it up and pay. The Product could not really be deemed essential, it is for some but not for most. I imagine we won’t be allowed to open for a while. I do agree though that high shopper number premises may struggle, but then again I saw a small butchers in the town, with people in a queue outside nicely spaced, so who knows.....People seem to be behaving themselves.....

 

[whiteshadow]

Agree but its either that or don't see grandchildren till a vaccine 12 months or so and that'll be tough.

Yeah, I get what you mean. You'll probably be fine due to not many people having it, like you said, just hard to know for sure.

Make sure you're taking Vitamin D tablets if you can too.

 

[whiteshadow]

Looking like the Government have found some experts to challenge the 2 metre social distancing adice...

Two-metre rule could be reviewed as hopes rise for schools and business reopening

Changes to social distancing could also pave the way for businesses to restart trading as the issue becomes a "live discussion" in Whitehall

www.telegraph.co.uk

They want herd immunity. Only way countries are going to get back to normal is through shielding the vulnerable and getting the majority of people immune to it.

Only other option is to stay in lockdown and watch the economy collapse and people die from other diseases like cancer, heart disease etc.

 

[ramacca]

Looking like the Government have found some experts to challenge the 2 metre social distancing adice...

Two-metre rule could be reviewed as hopes rise for schools and business reopening

Changes to social distancing could also pave the way for businesses to restart trading as the issue becomes a "live discussion" in Whitehall

www.telegraph.co.uk

Those that may have questioned the 'two metre' rule before and during the lockdown, would have been castigated left, right and centre. But now the government needs an exit strategy, the same voice that advocated the 'two metre rule' is now piping up and coming forward to say 'well it was made up anyway' and there's no scientific evidence that two metres works'

Just recently on 20th. April Robert Dingwall was echoing the ;two metre rule',

“Supermarkets are tricky because they are indoor environments,” says Robert Dingwall, professor of social sciences at Nottingham Trent University.
“Even here, the standard view in public health circles is being within two metres of someone for 15 minutes as presenting the risk. However, most closer contacts in supermarkets are fleeting and low-risk.

“If there is a queue at the check out, it is worth standing further apart than usual, and supermarkets should manage access to prevent dense crowds forming, but that is really as far as they need to go.”

It is also important to continue practising good hygiene after using a touchscreen till point".

But 5 days later he's had a volte face,

By JAMES GANT FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 10:08, 25 April 2020 | UPDATED: 08:11, 26 April 2020

"Mr Dingwall told Radio 4's Today: 'We cannot sustain [social distancing measures] without causing serious damage to society, to the economy and to the physical and mental health of the population.
'I think it will be much harder to get compliance with some of the measures that really do not have an evidence base. I mean the two-metre rule was conjured up out of nowhere.'
He added: 'Well there is a certain amount of scientific evidence for a one-metre distance which comes out of indoor studies in clinical and experimental settings.
'There's never been a scientific basis for two metres, it's kind of a rule of thumb. But it's not like there is a whole kind of rigorous scientific literature that it is founded upon.'
The government put the UK on lockdown on March 23 and enforced social distancing to try to combat the spread of the virus which has killed nearly 20,000.
Guidance on its website says: 'If you meet others when you are outdoors (for example, on a walk) ensure that you stay at least 2 metres away.'

"Robert Dingwall from New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) said the rule was 'conjured up out of nowhere'. The group feeds into Sage, which has faced stern criticism after it was revealed Boris Johnson's chief adviser Dominic Cummings has been sitting in on meetings"

Maybe he's been given the nod by Cummins to muddy the water with the 'two metre rule'.

 

[BrendanGOT]

They want herd immunity. Only way countries are going to get back to normal is through shielding the vulnerable and getting the majority of people immune to it.

Only other option is to stay in lockdown and watch the economy collapse and people die from other diseases like cancer, heart disease etc.

And poverty and mental illness. If a lockdown ever happens again, it has to be done differently for sure. In a way that shields the old and vulnerable but keeps the economy and some forms of social life ticking as normal

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

They want herd immunity. Only way countries are going to get back to normal is through shielding the vulnerable and getting the majority of people immune to it.

Only other option is to stay in lockdown and watch the economy collapse and people die from other diseases like cancer, heart disease etc.

Jus shows you can find an expert to suit ideaology, kerching... Had they gone harder and faster which would have required preparation, I'm pretty sure we would be on a much lower death toll and probably in step with other countries in relaxing distancing...

 

[whiteshadow]

Jus shows you can find an expert to suit ideaology, kerching... Had they gone harder and faster which would have required preparation, I'm pretty sure we would be on a much lower death toll and probably in step with other countries in relaxing distancing...

Agree on the experts.

As to the death toll I think we've just had larger percentage of the population infected compared to most countries.

I think countries that locked down early will suffer higher death rates later on, barring a viable treatment being found. If the anti body plasma works that could make a big difference. Fingers crossed.

 

[whiteshadow]

And poverty and mental illness. If a lockdown ever happens again, it has to be done differently for sure. In a way that shields the old and vulnerable but keeps the economy and some forms of social life ticking as normal

That's the key yeah.

Ideal situation is to keep the ICU beds close to full but never overflowing while managing to keep as much of the economy open as possible.

Going to be hard to manage but at least we have the advantage of seeing how Italy and Spain's lifting of restrictions plays out.

 

[Wizard]

That's the key yeah.

Ideal situation is to keep the ICU beds close to full but never overflowing while managing to keep as much of the economy open as possible.

Going to be hard to manage but at least we have the advantage of seeing how Italy and Spain's lifting of restrictions plays out.

Aren't Italy and Spain's relaxing of lockdown measures basically bringing them in line with where we have been for the past 6 weeks?

 

[cronullasharks]

Yeah that's a concern of mine currently plus what @Toast said as well. My lads moving to senior school and of there was no school from now until then it's a massive jump. Also worry about care for the kids as my mother in law normally has the kids 2 days a week but she's over 70 and wouldn't want to put her at risk.

A lot of things to think about, things I worry about (which I'm sure we all do) but hopefully if we are putting one step in front of the other each day we will be getting closer to some kind of normality for not just ourselves, but our kids as well.

Agreed, my eldest kid is about to turn 4 and is going crazy without his normal sports and activities and not going to pre-school.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

 

[PhilM]

An interesting article on the BBC regarding examples of people who have broke the restrictions.

Lockdown breakers: 'We got a dirty look and packed it in'

Nine per cent of people in the UK are "resisting" the lockdown rules, though some are regretting it.

www.bbc.co.uk

Matt, 29, south-west England
We had been reading about a meteor shower that was meant to be really spectacular on Wednesday night. So around 11.30pm I piled into the car with my mum, dad and younger brother. We had a telescope and binoculars.

The idea was to drive about four or five miles out of the city to get a better view of the sky at midnight.

We were less than 500m from our house and a police car pulled out. It had been stationary and parked at the side of the road. It followed us and its lights came on. Then a second police car arrived with lights, sirens, the whole works.

They asked what we were doing and were perfectly polite. They said this was an unnecessary journey and we had to go home. My dad told them this was our daily exercise but they were not having it.

I can understand their argument but to deny us the right to exercise seems overzealous. It starts to become a night curfew and that's not what the regulations are about.

For example if I was an essential worker and wanted to go for a late-night run, then what's to stop me doing that? They were saying we should exercise in a local space but the lockdown rules say you are allowed to drive a short distance to exercise.

I did complain to the police in writing afterwards. They replied saying our travel was non-essential but I still don't think we broke the rules