Coronavirus

[Bob's Orange]

oh Jesus. There are no words to convey the bravery and gratitude to those quite literally making the ultimate sacrifice.

Condolences to the friends and family..

Hear hear. Of all the deaths that are announced, the NHS workers that sadly die really does hit home. I find comparing this to a war to be churlish really, but these guys really are on the 'front line' and to go about their daily work in the face of this invisible killer goes above bravery. Its not worth a lot but my applause tonight will be louder than ever for these guys. Absolute heroes.

[Costanza]

They've just set-up a temporary morgue at the bottom of the road where I live in Bristol.

Sobering.

[4D]

and this is very grim reading indeed. I'm sticking my fingers in ears and hoping it's alarmist worst worst case

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/07/uk-will-be-europes-worst-hit-by-coronavirus-study-predicts

Perhaps the fuckwits who keep ignoring the rules will take a good look at this

[pauld]

An ED Locum doctor at GWH has died of the virus, announced this morning to staff. I guess it will be in the news later. He was a grandfather too.

[Batch]

they need total lockdown for Easter, surely

[Bob's Orange]

they need total lockdown for Easter, surely

I agree unfortunately. The weather is really nice and people don't seem to be able to heed the govt advice so I think its probably sensible to err on the side of caution.

[Sippo]

As in what? No shops open? Most are shut bank holiday sunday. Like I said, people are still ignoring the rules.

We all knew this would be hard to police. Just go to Sevenfields on a daily basis, and you will see all sorts of people picnicing and have a good time.

[pauld]

I agree unfortunately. The weather is really nice and some people don't seem to be able to heed the govt advice so I think its probably sensible to err on the side of caution.

FIFY. I don't think the picture (of people violating lockdown) is nearly as bad as some would have us believe

[Sippo]

Prime example. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-52221688

[Bogus Dave]

To that assuming an average of 10 people per party, that’s equivalent to 0.2% of the greater Manchester population breaking the rules

[Bogus Dave]

And, again to that point, the plans and assumptions around lock-downs included assumptions around people breaching them. I read that generally the level of compliance is higher than was assumed, but I can’t find the source for that

[theakston2k]

I think we'll just see the lockdown in its current form until mid-May and then if we are on a downwards curve and the NHS is seen as being able to cope then things will be relaxed in phases. That is unless people completely abuse it over Easter.....

I've seen a lot of people saying the lockdown should continue indefinitely until we get to zero cases, that is nonsense in my view as that could be a year away for all we know and the country and economy would go to ruin in that time. Also a prolonged lockdown would cause long term health issues (mental and physical) going forwards so there is a fine balance to be had. You could be saving lives in the short term only to cause just as many in the long term, I'm glad I don't have to make the difficult decisions. 

[4D]

I'd quite happily see social distancing continue after an ease of lockdown. 

[suttonred]

I think we'll just see the lockdown in its current form until mid-May and then if we are on a downwards curve and the NHS is seen as being able to cope then things will be relaxed in phases. That is unless people completely abuse it over Easter.....

I've seen a lot of people saying the lockdown should continue indefinitely until we get to zero cases, that is nonsense in my view as that could be a year away for all we know and the country and economy would go to ruin in that time. Also a prolonged lockdown would cause long term health issues (mental and physical) going forwards so there is a fine balance to be had. You could be saving lives in the short term only to cause just as many in the long term, I'm glad I don't have to make the difficult decisions.  

There will never be zero cases. They'll try and manage how many get it at once until there is a vaccine. We'll all get it, just hopefully not all in one go, and then until there is some form of jab to hopefully protect the vulnerable.

[pauld]

I think we'll just see the lockdown in its current form until mid-May and then if we are on a downwards curve and the NHS is seen as being able to cope then things will be relaxed in phases.

Think you're right. And that phasing could also be location-specific as well, assuming we actually implement test, trace and isolate this time i.e. you could see specific areas suddenly go back into a more severe lockdown if they become hotspots while other areas are still on partial lockdown and others are relatively normal. Think it will be a while before we're anywhere near back to normality across the country