Boris Johnson Announcement Discussion - 10/05/20

[yorkie]

So joining the dots he really does believe in herd immunity. Not something I will be practicing.

I'm not sure what you mean but the chances of eliminating the virus seem remote and I suggest you watch this video: WHO's Nabarro: We must learn to live with Covid 19; I'd suggest any further discussion on that topic goes in a new thread.

I still think we'll end up following whatever apears to work in Europe.

Agreed.

 

[3rd rail land]

I give this plan a month or two at the very most before they realise that the death and infection rates aren't going to fall as much as they need but they have to open the economy and let us see each other, it's simply unviable for much longer.

Totally agree on this. The economy is stuffed if social distancing is enforced for too much longer. Many activities people do, thereby supporting the economy, can not be done with social distancing enforced.

I can imagine a 21st century great depression coming if social distancing is enforced the rest of the year or even longer.

 

[johnmoly]

I am surprised that reception and year 1 will go back to school as they are the most difficult to keep apart

Year 6’s I can understand as the last year of primary school is very important and they deserve the chance to see their class And teacher one final time to say goodbye - even if it is at a distance. No hugs, fist bumps or shirt signing.

My wife works in a school and she said year 6 should be back first as its their last year there.

Otherwise we thought the same after Boris's statement, nothing really clarified at all.

 

[bramling]

I don’t think anyone could criticise you for doing that. It’s not great that there are so many unanswered questions and we will have to hope the press conference fills in the blanks.

We can now sit in a park, so does that mean we can sunbathe? We can drive for exercise, does that mean we can all pile into the car and head to Brighton beach on the next sunny weekend?

This feels like the weekend before the lockdown all over again, just where we don’t want to be IMO. It just feels like Boris is trying desperately not to tread on *anyone’s* toes, and in so doing seems to unwittingly upsetting just about everyone.

And to add to this it seems like we have a squabble with the devolvees again. Now I’ve little no doubt that Sturgeon is relishing her chance to be statesmanlike again the moment, but just at this moment I’m sure something could have been pulled together that everyone was happy with. We have the unbelievable situation that the Scottish FM claims to “not understand” the UK government’s guidance. Madness.

And I still don’t really see quite what we’re trying to achieve in the short term at this moment. I bet there’s an element of buying more time, this time to see what happens in other countries. Let’s see if we can actually manage to take advantage of this opportunity for the first time in this affair.

 

[High Dyke]

Not much to see here then.

Though it does mention the potential for some of the hospitality industry to reopen in July !

I think some of that may be that the hospitality industry is possibly the largest industry to be affected by all of this, and is therefore claiming a considerable amount under the Jobs Retention Scheme or other forms of financial assistance the Government had announced. As they've now announced a scaling back of the 'furlough' scheme, in order to save the public purse, then the re-opening of pubs and clubs will be welcomed. Without any further financial assistance I've calculated that our club basically has sufficient capital to pay wages for another two months. After that, any possible re-opening may be in doubt.

 

[6862]

As expected, a lot said but not very much detail. But with a population (and to a large extent government) which is becoming increasingly jumpy and is only just realising that life is not as certain as we all thought it was, I don't see how they could have given any more detail. So I think the adaptive/reactive approach they seem to be taking is quite sensible.

Regarding returning to work if you can't work from home, I think this is quite sensible. If we can't reopen factories/labs/garages etc. without a rise in cases, there is no hope for any of the other changes - workplaces need to open first, both as a test, and as the means to provide our livelihoods. We need to get these places open, and if there is a rise in cases then the government will have to make the choice between the short term view (lockdown again, short term saving lives, long term obliteration of the economy), or the long term view (try and minimise deaths as far as possible without worsening our catastrophic economic decline).

 

[Ivor]

Unless I’ve missed it somewhere along the line when will we be able to visit a dentist or optician? I need to see both currently

 

[Huntergreed]

This feels like the weekend before the lockdown all over again, just where we don’t want to be IMO. It just feels like Boris is trying desperately not to tread on *anyone’s* toes, and in so doing seems to unwittingly upsetting just about everyone.

It's all uncertain and tomorrow I can see people decided to head out where they want to a certain degree as it's entirely unclear what's allowed or not anymore.

I can't help but get the feeling that he's following the public opinion and that he's taking too much influence from them and purely epidemiological scientists who are trained in effective methods to suppress outbreaks like this and, whilst of course it is important to a certain degree, I feel we also need a more well rounded discussion including behavioural scientists, psychologists and mental health experts, experts on the economy and finances, rather than simply medical experts to ensure that all round damage is minimalised as I feel that if we put all our weights on one end of the scale, the death rate will soar from all other causes and this is surely what we should ultimately be preventing, rather than just the spread of this one virus.

 

[6862]

Unless I’ve missed it somewhere along the line when will we be able to visit a dentist or optician? I need to see both currently

I wonder if details like that might be clarified after tomorrows House of Commons announcements - perhaps a similar document to what Ireland released last week? Boris did say they would try and give details to Parliament before the public from now on.

 

[chris11256]

Just read on BBC News that a 50 page document with more details will be published tomorrow, probably alongside or just after Boris’ Parliament statement.

 

[Ivor]

I wonder if details like that might be clarified after tomorrows House of Commons announcements - perhaps a similar document to what Ireland released last week? Boris did say they would try and give details to Parliament before the public from now on.

Good point, hopefully we will get a better idea tomorrow then.

 

[bramling]

I think some of that may be that the hospitality industry is possibly the largest industry to be affected by all of this, and is therefore claiming a considerable amount under the Jobs Retention Scheme or other forms of financial assistance the Government had announced. As they've now announced a scaling back of the 'furlough' scheme, in order to save the public purse, then the re-opening of pubs and clubs will be welcomed. Without any further financial assistance I've calculated that our club basically has sufficient capital to pay wages for another two months. After that, any possible re-opening may be in doubt.

I can’t see pubs and clubs being open anything like that soon. Hotels and restaurants maybe, although (especially with restaurants) one wonders whether distancing will affect viability in terms of restricted numbers.

I suspect it doesn’t help that whilst the furlough scheme was no doubt intended for industries which *can’t* function at this time, in reality it seems to have been used in ways which I suspect weren’t envisaged. We have companies furloughing shielded staff, others furloughing staff because business has dropped.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Australia have been doing that for more than a month!! We were astonished that when we came back to the UK last month, no such thing applied. We didn’t even have anyone checking arriving passengers’ temperatures!

Wow just wow

 

[43066]

This feels like the weekend before the lockdown all over again, just where we don’t want to be IMO. It just feels like Boris is trying desperately not to tread on *anyone’s* toes, and in so doing seems to unwittingly upsetting just about everyone.

Yes indeed. It’s clear he’s been on the back foot right from the start of this crisis and, judging by the confused message tonight, that remains the case.

I wonder how much division there is in the cabinet about continuing with this approach. They’re doing a pretty good job of remaking “on message” but cracks must be showing - I’m sure the chancellor would like to have done more to get the economy moving.

Just as during the election campaign, tonight was a reminder that Boris isn’t the best at giving speeches.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Wow just wow

Having entered Japan with an absolutely stinking cold (runny nose, headache, the lot) despite their "health quarantine check" they supposedly operate, I'm not sure how effective that is.

 

[Darandio]

Wow just wow

Don't be surprised. Throughout this whole pandemic people were allowed to fly in unchecked from destinations such as China, Italy, Spain.......

 

[Bletchleyite]

Just as during the election campaign, tonight was a reminder that Boris isn’t the best at giving speeches.

He's better at it than Matt Hancock, who I'd imagine is a good health secretary in the normal sense of the role, but is like an animal with headlights bearing down on him when he stands at the podium.

 

[nidave]

I live 40 miles away from work, I can't drive or ride a bike, just what am I supposed to do? No doubt I'll get a call tomorrow demanding I come in, I either go or join the dole queue...

 

[Bletchleyite]

I live 40 miles away from work, I can't drive or ride a bike, just what am I supposed to do? No doubt I'll get a call tomorrow demanding I come in, I either go or join the dole queue...

You use public transport. The idea of pushing those who can avoid it to do so is to make space on it for people like you who can't, not so the staff can run it round for a laugh like some sort of 12" to the foot scale train set.

 

[Mogster]

Those who are in favour of locking down for a very long time seem to be millennials and gen X's in nice relationships with families and houses with gardens. "We can sustain this for years, think about someone else you selfish hospitality worker who lives alone in a tiny flat!"

They often seem to believe that destroying the economy isn’t really a problem, believing it may usher in some new world order then think they may prefer...

 

[Darandio]

I live 40 miles away from work, I can't drive or ride a bike, just what am I supposed to do? No doubt I'll get a call tomorrow demanding I come in, I either go or join the dole queue...

How did you get to work before?

 

[bramling]

Yes indeed. It’s clear he’s been on the back foot right from the start of this crisis and, judging by the confused message tonight, that remains the case.

I wonder how much division there is in the cabinet about continuing with this approach. They’re doing a pretty good job of remaking “on message” but cracks must be showing - I’m sure the chancellor would like to have done more to get the economy moving.

Just as during the election campaign, tonight was a reminder that Boris isn’t the best at giving speeches.

He just seems completely unable to identify and deliver the key bits needed to move this thing forward. Perhaps you’re right that there’s more going on behind the scenes than we know about and he’s having to keep a lid on it all.

Meanwhile the Northern Line had a suicide today. Hopefully not the start of a trend, but a reminder that there’s human costs to all elements of this.

 

[nidave]

How did you get to work before?

By train, but because of this unclear and confused guidance I can guarantee that the railways and tubes will be heaving by midweek

 

[Huntergreed]

By train, but because of this unclear and confused guidance I can guarantee that the railways and tubes will be heaving

I think a lot of people will still be afraid of heading back to work as normal and a good number will be still working from home. Whilst I definitely expect the passenger numbers to increase tomorrow, given the network has been running at 1% at the moment, there's plenty of scope for an increase in numbers whilst distancing is maintaned.

 

[Shimbleshanks]

Quarantine arriving by air. Looks like I am not visiting my mother anytime soon.

But not Eurostar or ferry?

 

[High Dyke]

I can’t see pubs and clubs being open anything like that soon. Hotels and restaurants maybe, although (especially with restaurants) one wonders whether distancing will affect viability in terms of restricted numbers.

I suspect it doesn’t help that whilst the furlough scheme was no doubt intended for industries which *can’t* function at this time, in reality it seems to have been used in ways which I suspect weren’t envisaged. We have companies furloughing shielded staff, others furloughing staff because business has dropped.

That's a fair point. As a club we weren't able to diversify, like some pubs, hotels and breweries have.

I can also see a problem with the statement made about driving to exercise. I imagine many beauty spots will be full next weekend.

I note that someone mentioned about the lack of seeing family/friends. I've followed the guidelines, so far and haven't seen my 82 year-old Mother since this started, but have spoken to her every week. Yet, i've seen my neighbours have their parents visit, to see the granddaughter. I've tried to show restraint in all of this, but it's really annoying me. As frontline workers both my wife and I have done our best to stay healthy and avoid getting ill, but then you see people blatantly disregarding the advice set out by the government! Perhaps now, I may be less tolerant of things.

 

[Bow Fell]

I live 40 miles away from work, I can't drive or ride a bike, just what am I supposed to do? No doubt I'll get a call tomorrow demanding I come in, I either go or join the dole queue...

You use public transport. The idea of pushing those who can avoid it to do so is to make space on it for people like you who can't, not so the staff can run it round for a laugh like some sort of 12" to the foot scale train set.

It’s worth pointing out, that myself and many others on the railway are not against “reopening” for want of a better term for commuters etc. Even if there is that impression from unions etc

What we don’t want is a sudden influx from tomorrow, when to be honest there are no plans in place as yet on how to manage the returning numbers.

A phased return over the coming weeks/months would be great, with guidelines/passenger management/timetable changes to retain social distancing

That will be developed over the next week if we are to see a TT change next week.

 

[yorksrob]

I think some of that may be that the hospitality industry is possibly the largest industry to be affected by all of this, and is therefore claiming a considerable amount under the Jobs Retention Scheme or other forms of financial assistance the Government had announced. As they've now announced a scaling back of the 'furlough' scheme, in order to save the public purse, then the re-opening of pubs and clubs will be welcomed. Without any further financial assistance I've calculated that our club basically has sufficient capital to pay wages for another two months. After that, any possible re-opening may be in doubt.

Indeed. I think the hospitality industry will need some form of support until normality returns.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Sorry, I wasn't suggesting staff wanted to run it round as an oversized train set, just that people weren't expected to leave it to be one, they were just expected to use any other choice they have in preference to it in order to make space for those with no viable other choice.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Indeed. I think the hospitality industry will need some form of support until normality returns.

I'm wondering if something like chapter 11 should be introduced for that sort of industry, allowing them to effectively "go bankrupt" but then re-emerge from it? Most of their landlords could afford to lose the rent.