I suspect the term "herd strategy" will come back to haunt the government if things get very bad. Many people will think they are being treated like cows.

Originally Posted by: Brian Gaze 

I suspect the term "herd strategy" will come back to haunt the government if things get very bad. Many people will think they are being treated like cows.

Originally Posted by: Brian Gaze 

Here are some excerpts from the execrable little twerp Hancock's 'plan'. You will see there is no plan other than there not being a place for 'herd immunity' and to get car plants to make ventilators:

We have a plan, based on the expertise of world-leading scientists. Herd immunity is not a part of it. That is a scientific concept, not a goal or a strategy. Our goal is to protect life from this virus, our strategy is to protect the most vulnerable and protect the NHS through contain, delay, research and mitigate.

And:

We are working through our clear action plan. Like all our decisions, the plan is based on the bedrock of the science, with maximum transparency. We will do the right thing at the right time, based on the best available science.

To protect life, we must protect the vulnerable, and protect the NHS and flatten the curve.

And:

Today, we take further action, with a call to arms for a drive to build the ventilators and other equipment the NHS will need. We are better equipped thanks to the NHS than most other countries, but we will need many more. We now need any manufacturers to transform their production lines to make ventilators. We cannot make too many.

And:

Next week we will publish our emergency bill, to give the Government the temporary powers we will need to help everyone get through this. The measures in it allow for the worst case scenario. I hope many of them won’t be needed. But we will ask Parliament for these powers in case they are.

The country is in need of clear leadership and direction as we head into this difficult period. Instead, we have a PM who has no interest in detail being guided by a megalomaniac adviser with a personality disorder. Hence we get the 'take it on the chin' and 'herd immunity' policy only for these to be dumped at the first sign of body bags. 

What will be dumped next weekend when we have 16,000 cases and more than 150 dead?

This is a shambles and it will cost lives. We need Gordon Brown at a time like this - instead we have a dangerous buffoon as a PM and a duplicitous little pr1ck for a health secretary.

Originally Posted by: Justin W 

How sad I am that Douglas Hurd has retired, Brian - he could have led on this strategy!

Roger

Originally Posted by: Roger Parsons 

The country is in need of clear leadership and direction as we head into this difficult period. Instead, we have a PM who has no interest in detail being guided by a megalomaniac adviser with a personality disorder. Hence we get the 'take it on the chin' and 'herd immunity' policy only for these to be dumped at the first sign of body bags. 

What will be dumped next weekend when we have 16,000 cases and more than 150 dead?

This is a shambles and it will cost lives. We need Gordon Brown at a time like this - instead we have a dangerous buffoon as a PM and a duplicitous little pr1ck for a health secretary.

Originally Posted by: Justin W 

I've just heard that most local schools are "are authorising all absence due to this virus whether you have it or not."

Originally Posted by: Brian Gaze 

If the government won't close them, the parents will!

(There is guidance to mark self-isolators as an authorised absense. The potential for abuse of that is, of course, something for another thread.)

Originally Posted by: Retron 

Maybe it just me. Why does Hancock only have an article in the telegraph.

Why is this message not a televised address from the PM to ensure everyone is abreast of plans.

Tomorrow will be day five and not a peep from the PM. This is a national crisis

Originally Posted by: Heavy Weather 2013 

At the moment, things are just surreal but I think disorder is a growing threat, especially as this could go on for a long time. The issue regarding schools is interesting as I suspect a significant number of parents are fearful of the virus and will quickly lose faith in the Government to look after their, and especially their children's interests and safety. It is probably fortunate that the Easter break is not that far away 

Originally Posted by: Sevendust 

Serious generic question - why withdraw your child now? Are you (a parent) worried about the transmission of COV to the staff still at the school or from them back to you (mindful that your child will most likely remain only very mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic). Or is it a ‘we survive this together’? 

Originally Posted by: nsrobins 

It's a good question. I would guess that it's driven by an understandable fear of catching the virus just by being out. At the moment there is a great sense of apprehension at what is to come, I think it's just instinctive to want to keep your children at home and away from harm both for their sakes and for what they could bring back.

I think it's a response to immediate events rather than a thought out plan about the realities. This crisis isn't going away quickly, if people keep their children at home they have to be prepared to do so for quite some time I would imagine. 

I go back on Wednesday, by then it may be that schools are shut anyway. Who knows?

Originally Posted by: Northern Sky 

I really don't see disorder as something that is likely.

Originally Posted by: westv 

It's a good question. I would guess that it's driven by an understandable fear of catching the virus just by being out. At the moment there is a great sense of apprehension at what is to come, I think it's just instinctive to want to keep your children at home and away from harm both for their sakes and for what they could bring back.

I think it's a response to immediate events rather than a thought out plan about the realities. This crisis isn't going away quickly, if people keep their children at home they have to be prepared to do so for quite some time I would imagine. 

I go back on Wednesday, by then it may be that schools are shut anyway. Who knows?

Originally Posted by: Northern Sky 

Trust me. The London Riots of 2011 suggest otherwise. The loss off social cohesion didn’t take much then, and this situation is far far worse.

Originally Posted by: Heavy Weather 2013 

Trust me. The London Riots of 2011 suggest otherwise. The loss off social cohesion didn’t take much then, and this situation is far far worse.

Originally Posted by: Heavy Weather 2013 

The London riots started due to the percieved "injustice" of police action. That is the cause of most riots, not a virus.

Originally Posted by: westv 

If you're going to keep your children at home then it will be for at least 3 months. I don't see how a parent is doing them any favours by doing that. Are they going to isolate them from the rest of the world for that long? 

Originally Posted by: speckledjim 

From the Tele (paywalled). Again, it reinforces the thinking that most of us are going to get the virus. It'll be interesting to see what happens if that really is the case, as people are freaking out at a 20-in-a-million chance at the moment... what on earth will it be like should that rise to a 6 or 7 in 10 chance?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/03/14/boris-johnson-puts-industry-war-footing-equip-nhs-battle-ahead/

This week ministers will publish an emergency bill to give police the power to detain people infected with coronavirus, sanction port closures if there are not enough staff to maintain border security and allow authorities to halt "any vehicle, train, vessel or aircraft

The bill anticipates the majority of the population catching coronavirus and is expected to stay in place for two years to cover the possibility of future outbreaks.

Originally Posted by: Retron