This is excellent especially the graphics/demonstrations. it's not behind a pay wall, just click the free cookie thing. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/

Will they have to riot two metres apart in groups of less than 100? 

“Every society is three meals away from chaos”

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/853096-every-society-is-three-meals-away-from-chaos

And his other ideas were all correct too. :-D

I have three children in school , hasn't even crossed my mind to take them out .

The hope, I guess, is that as more of the population have first-hand experience of what (for most) is a mild illness, the "freakoutery" will die back. If nothing else, the panickers will have stocked up for x months and once that's done, they won't need to keep buying.

This is the "round 'em all up and stick them in a safe place" policy, DrM.

I've been saying for some time we should requisition empty Cruise ships as prison hulks and stick all the serious CO19 cases in the freed-up prison Fever Hospital accommodation.

Like the "good ol' days" You know it makes sense! errr - maybe not. 

Stay healthy.

Roger

Matt Hancock:

Action to isolate the UK's over-70s for an extended period to shield them from coronavirus is planned in the coming weeks, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed.

__

Planned for the coming weeks? Do we even have weeks? What does this even mean? What does this even look like?

So basically, all he has done now is scare the living  daylights out of those in their 70s without a clear POA.

Breaking: Isolation for over-70s 'within weeks'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51895873

'Within weeks' - laughable if it weren't so serious 

The Turkeys voted for Christmas on Dec 12, so feck em I say

He is possibly the most pathetic individual ever to occupy high office in this country. A vile little weasel.

Its all about re election. He knows the economy is screwed so all he has left is nationalism and xenophobia. 

But I suspect he will suspend the election anyway and bring in emergency powers and declare Martial law. There was a reason why he pumped billions into the military - they love him and if he declares himself dictator, they will support him in a coup

Just like the plot of Handmaids Tail

Use a national crisis as the pretext you need to seize power

His friend Putin is now in power until 2036 after changing the Russian constitution

My elderly neighbour's in her 80s, doesn't use the Internet and relies on a minibus from Age Concern for her shopping needs. She's fiercely independent. I'm sure Age Concern will have contingency plans in place, but assuming I'm well next weekend I'll pop around and see her (I'm certinaly not going to see her within a week of Friday night's shivers and chills, even though I feel fine today).

The backup plan would be to use the milkman for deliveries - I don't even know if you can set up an offline account, but I'd be more than happy to order stuff on mine and take it round to her (or vice-versa, if I'm having to isolate!) Milkmen, of course, deliver things like fruit, veg, toilet rolls, household cleaning stuff... all the basics you need, really.

My grandmother is 81. She is fiercely independent. But this will scare the living daylights out of her. 

She has little jobs she likes doing to keep contact. She gets regular visits from me and always looks forward to a holiday once a year with her best friend. She also heads to Devon a lot to see my mum and her sister. She will be panicking now.

All Hancock has done is throw more questions into the mix without having answered all the others.

Suddnely herd immunity isn’t their goal, yet their scientists said it was, now it’s a scientific concept. May not be their goal, but is it there preffered method

It will be based on a risk v disruption situation. Large swathes of the country have few if any cases. That will change over the next few weeks as it become s more widespread and that will be the time to ask the elderly and more vulnerable to self-isolate. Imposing it now when there are no cases in certain areas will result in very limited compliance. The move will come in when needed, this is just a heads up to say “it is coming” be ready. It may be days or weeks but it will come and will be based on what will be perceived as the most effective.

Its not a case if we don’t know when to do it, just a “not yet” scenario.

Edit: For The record I wouldn’t trust Hancock or Johnson to take my temperature never mind any other clinical decisions. The logic and rationale the advisors are providing is unquestionable, whether it is the most effective only time will tell. 

But Doc. You don’t drop a message like that in the middle of Sky interview. People are just going to make up their own narrative on what this means until the next government update. 

Indeed. Already a number of robberies in Croydon of "paki" shops. The supermarkets are better protected so the yobs go for smaller independent retailers, and the police are nowhere to be seen

This country is finished.

I know I have been saying this for ages, but the Lenin quote is true especially for a divided, fractured and ill educated society like ours

I am tooled up and ready to protect my property. I don't have a gun like Justin, but I have a machete and I will use it, though I am likely to come off worse in any fight

But I am ready to die fighting

Good luck and God Bless

Yes that is a fair point and is the problem when you leave things to politicians. 

The delivery of the message could be handled much better but they will get flak regardless of what they do. The alternative was to just impose the “self-isolation” before it will be most effective, with no prior warning.

Large swathes of the country have dozens of unconfirmed cases, without a doubt.

I agree with HW, what kind of plan is this? What sort of timing is this? I'm not saying folk are right to panic, but messages like this that follow the sudden backing away from the 'herd immunity' strategy, are not at all helpful to the over 70s.

Your first sentence is unprovable so I cannot comment.

The plan and the argument behind it seems like a very good or at least well thought out one -

• let the less vulnerable get it as we cannot stop a virus like this


• while the younger/less vulnerable recover and are immune the older or more vulnerable are protected (development of this unpopular so called “herd immunity” system)


• By the time the self-isolation period is complete there will be much less spread to the vulnerable groups and consequently less strain on the NHS.

That’s the logic and it makes sense whether it works or not is another matter. Things will continue to change and I hope the communication improves a bit.

To my mind, it all smacks of "We don't have a bloody clue what we are doing".

It would be laughable tbh were it not so serious. The incompetence and ineptitude of Johnson and his so-called government over this virus has reached levels that I had previously thought wasn't possible even for him & them.