Britain takes different approach to coronavirus outbreak

[PinkJelly 1,825]

It’s beyond ridiculous. I think it’s appalling the NHS are no longer testing people besides those already in hospital to actually confirm cases. 

I was supposed to have a meeting on Thursday with my housing provider about my tenancy, I turned up at their offices to be told all the staff had been sent home because of a suspected case. No forewarning not to attend, and I was still allowed to enter the building. I wanted to be tested as a precaution but that now isn’t possible unless I’m hospitalised.

Also what happens when my local GP surgery is closed because of the outbreak? I rely on routine blood tests for my specialist at the gender clinic to prescribe my hormone treatment, will they just stop providing me with it? I’m so scared right now. 

[Itsbrenda 2,983]

Guys, add this to the OP. ITV is reporting: 

Elderly to be quarantined at home or in care homes for four months - reports

The ITV's political editor Robert Peston has reported that the government is preparing new measures to tackle the spread of coronavirus in the UK.

They include using hotels and other buildings as temporary hospitals, shutting pubs, bars and restaurants, and closing schools for several weeks.

People over 70 will be instructed by the government to stay in strict isolation, he says.

The new measures are apparently "likely to be enforced within the next 20 days".
 

 

FINALLY something might happen... in the next 20 days 

[Luc 4,776]

Is the herd immunity strategy by the government confirmed as true? If so, that's a shitshow and won't work:

- virus may mutate and have a second round.

- having 70% of the healthy population build up resistance does not mean that 70% in any given setting will be immune. The 'weak' groups tend to stick together, e.g. elderly in elderly homes. For herd immunity to work, you'd need 70% (if that's the percentage we're going with) of all social groups and all common settings to be immune, so also 70% of the elderly (because elderly come in contact more with elderly). Same story with vaccinations: the measles don't care if the whole country is 95% vaccinated, if that means that 10% of cities are 80% vaccinated and the rest is 98% vaccinated. The distribution matters.

- if herd immunity by letting all young people catch it were the strategy, it should be controlled. Herd immunity by letting people do what they want means weak groups get the virus as well. If the strategy would work, it'd have to be in the form of: only people aged 0-50 may go outside, everyone above 50 is not allowed to stay outside.

- 40 million young-ish people, even with a death rate of only 0.1%, will lead to a total 40k deaths of young people.

- just because young people don't die as often, doesn't mean they don't use the healthcare system capacity. In fact, where I live, the majority of people in IC is below 50. People below 50 are less likely to die from the pneumonia they get, but not that much less likely to get the severe pneumonia itself.

 

 

 

 

but what is being said above with the new report already sounds better. Closing schools and no going out is a good first step. The UK still has like 5 days before they reach the levels of France and Spain.

[Sam98 1,896]

This is gonne end badly  But what can ya do, they made fun of Italians saying we're just "using an excuse to go on holiday", SO...

 

[dollardays 4,202]

This will work by killing all the elders and the most fragile and will stop spreading because everyone will get it. Scary.

[Dominic 11,922]

I dont know if closing schools would even help now, it seems a bit too late. I can see why there are delays because of the pressure it would put on the NHS if they did close. I dunno, I dont think anyone really knows the best course of action. Large scale events should be banned though really. 

[Franz Ferdinand 2,359]

There's also the chance that immunity doesn't last long enough for her immunity to actually exist. There are a few reports of people getting infected twice, so we don't know if this is a thing yet, but it might be.

[Chromaticunt 5,529]

This approach to Coronavirus is entirely because of Brexit. The government knows we are rocketing towards a No Deal next year and when that happens, the pound is going to PLUNGE. If they stop trading now, we will still be recovering from the financial shortfall by the time No Deal comes around, which would make the pound even WORSE off. The government are going to wait until the peak of Coronavirus before they actually enforce quarantine and business closure (if they do at all!), just so the disruption doesn't last too long and completely cripple this country come 31st December.

Boris's "many loved ones will die" speech is basically his way of saying 'deal with it'. Once again, the government are going against the advice of EXPERTS just so they can bulldoze Brexit through to completion. They are consciously allowing people to continue going about their daily lives infecting each other, KNOWING the death toll will be much higher than if we quarantine at this relatively early stage, just so they salvage this country from the  financial ruin. This government must surely be the worst in British history. They make me sick to my stomach and every time I see their smug faces on TV, I have to restrain myself from wishing death upon them all.

[DeleteMyAccount 11,881]

1 hour ago, xoxo Craig said:

They want to allow 60-80% of the population  to become infected with it... he is gonna kill so many

And this is why overreaction is much better than no reaction at all..

[SHALLOW 16,469]

1 hour ago, ZacharyMark said:

Watch them get the virus like Italy did. They can't afford that. They're basically welcoming that with no action.

Yup. It’s so stupid that they know how bad it can get but they’re not doing much about it. 

[FarixGaga 15,552]

1 hour ago, ZacharyMark said:

Watch them get the virus like Italy did. They can't afford that. They're basically welcoming that with no action.

Every country is "getting the virus like Italy did" at this point. Spain is like 3-4 days behind Italy in terms of the spread out of the virus. Germany and France are also very close as well as the US. It's just a matter of time til it happens in the UK. 

[DeleteMyAccount 11,881]

3 minutes ago, FarixGaga said:

Every country is "getting the virus like Italy did" at this point. Spain is like 3-4 days behind Italy in terms of the spread out of the virus. Germany and France are also very close as well as the US. It's just a matter of time til it happens in the UK. 

Except everyone besides UK are actually doing something to contain the virus. That's the difference.

[FarixGaga 15,552]

Just now, ZacharyMark said:

Except everyone besides UK are actually doing something to contain the virus. That's the difference.

Yes, I totally agree and I wasn't discussing this specific point. I argued that the italian situation had some kind of specificity which was implied (imo at least) by that sentence I quoted. The spread out of the virus for whatever reason (probably because of stricter controls) was first discovered in Italy, but it's now developing at similar rates in many states, just with a delay of some days. I might have misunderstood your post, it was just a clarification.

[jezze0410 395]

I know people on this site are very anti-Brexit and even more anti-Boris, but the UK's response is being led by the Chief Medical Officer and other technocrats in the science-related agencies of the civil service (and if you've been following UK news recently it should be clear that much of the civil service detests the government). It is a very unorthodox response, but that is perhaps more to do with the fact that the UK seems to be the only country that is including behavioural science (itself a controversial field) in the modelling of how different measures will affect the spread of the virus. Yes, there are many fair criticisms of this response by scientists and experts in virology and epidemiology, but the response is itself designed by experts in these fields.

The government and its advisors believe that the virus has spread so pervasively, both within the country and internationally, that completely eradicating it is impossible, and that countries that are currently in lockdown will see further waves of the virus once lockdown measures end; there are simply not enough testing kits available internationally to know how many undetected cases are in sub-Saharan Africa, South America, or the smaller cities and rural areas in China. In a recent press conference, the chief medical officer compared most countries' responses to holding out during a coronavirus hurricane, when it really is a coronavirus winter. More and more measures will be taken, but they are making sure to implement them only when they know they will be at their most effective.

Regarding herd immunity, it is part of the government strategy, but it is incorrect to discuss the infection of 60-80% of the population as an aim; it just so happens that models seem to suggest that 60-80% of the population will at some point contract the virus (the figure is 70% in Germany, according to Merkel). The UK is essentially trying to time the introduction of harder measures so that the 60-80% infected will be those for whom the disease will be mild, and hoping that they will develop immunity so that the old and vulnerable will be shielded. This means that the number of dead might be higher in the UK than in continental Europe in the short run, but potentially far lower in the long run.

There is no single correct way to tackle an epidemic, and any measure has its associated benefits and risks; I, along with many epidemiologists, medics, and statisticians I know (one of whom, incidentally, has the virus), happen to agree with the response so far, but of course its efficacy cannot be judged until after this crisis is over.

[PinkJelly 1,825]

We have a nation in outrage. Boris has pretty much labelled the elderly and anyone with underlying health issues as collateral damage with the measures he’s not taking and by stating many more families will loose loved ones before their time.

The U.K. Government at this point wants more people to die. I get the impression they’re using COVID-19 as a way to get rid of anyone not really contributing to the economy and/or dependant on help from the state. A scenario where the strongest/fittest and most valuable to society survive and it’s disgusting.

People are now dubbing him ‘Boris the Butcher’ - and this is not going to end well for any of us.