state of emergency

[Nick_Ips]

Nick you seem to be downplaying what the Government is proposing by turning it into a "request". There is nothing wrong with a request for people to act sensibly; however the minister is talking about enforced house arrest for a prolonged period of four months.

I'm not sure what source you are using, but in the video attached to this BBC news story the words used are 'ask' and 'asking', and at no point is the word 'arrest' used.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51895873

To me the word 'asking' is broadly equivalent to 'request'. In any event I would expect the initial steps to be in the form of a 'request', since anything more draconian would (I believe) require specific legislation giving the Government the power of 'house arrest' over a large section of the population. I'm not convinced this is likely to happen, or (hopefully) be necessary.

This, as recognised by the chief medical officer in Scotland, would not be acceptable and would in itself lead to health problems. Fresh air and exercise promote good health; enforced deprivation would be injurious to physical health and mental welfare.

Totally agree. Which is why I think it unlikely that we would progress from a 'asking' to 'arrest' unless the situation became very dire. It is also - as mentioned in the video - why the government are seeking to delay this step for as long as possible, in recognition of the difficulties and social/health issues it will involve.

You seem to want to take what you regard as a vulnerable group and make them even more vulnerable.

Me? It is the advice of the Government's Chief Scientific and Medical Officers we are discussing.

I'm just suggesting that it isn't as completely outrageous as some on this thread are asserting. You only need to look at what is happening right now in Italy, Spain and France to see that the proposal isn't totally outside what other countries are doing, or will be doing quite soon.

[Viktoria]

Thanks Mike ,never realised that.Viktoria

[Greensleeves]

You seem to want to take what you regard as a vulnerable group and make them even more vulnerable.

Me? It is the advice of the Government's Chief Scientific and Medical Officers we are discussing.

And this advice has been disputed by over 200 scientists in the UK, numerous British health professionals,  as well as learned and experienced consultants and practitioners who have been dealing with the cv outbreaks elsewhere in the world.  So I hardly think the 'advice' can be accepted as gold standard and not open to criticism.

[Erato]

"For those of us who live in large towns ..."

Well, I live in a large city.  Not only that, I'm a foreigner without any relatives here.  But I have faith in my neighbors to give me a hand when needed.  Indeed, two of the neighboring families have family farms in the countryside and have frequently brought me fresh farm produce in the past.  And I know I can count on Elmer, the neighborhood nice guy, who is the municipal parking monitor.  He will gladly do any local errands for me.  I only wish that I had a huge stock of unread books on hand, but I don't.  And I wish that I had stocked up with more dog food.  The neighbors to the south are dog lovers, though [they have three], so I'll ask them to pick some up for me the next time they shop for their own dogs.  I'm not looking forward to this but it will be survivable.

[jc26red]

Our local town has set up a Facebook page to help those who have to isolate for the next few months. Offering help and to feel less lonely during the long days.

[Nick_Ips]

And this advice has been disputed by over 200 scientists in the UK, numerous British health professionals,  as well as learned and experienced consultants and practitioners who have been dealing with the cv outbreaks elsewhere in the world.  So I hardly think the 'advice' can be accepted as gold standard and not open to criticism.

But the complaint from the 200+ scientists would appear to be that the Government needs to apply more restrictive measures and to do so sooner.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51892402

We consider the social distancing measures taken as of today as insufficient, and we believe that additional and more restrictive measures should be taken immediately, as it is already happening in other countries across the world.

It is difficult to take this discussion further without the risk of edging into the alarmist. So I'm going to stop there unless and until anything new comes up.

[groom]

Almost every other country has closed schools - we have no plans to as yet. Instead, the Government is talking about passing a law to allow larger class sizes if there are teacher absences. So, rather than having 30 children in a class, you cram in 40 or more, where is the sense there?

[mazi]

Almost every other country has closed schools - we have no plans to as yet. Instead, the Government is talking about passing a law to allow larger class sizes if there are teacher absences. So, rather than having 30 children in a class, you cram in 40 or more, where is the sense there?

Possibly because with so many working parents the children are better off in school than roaming the streets, especially as there is not the childcare facilities to look after them.

So teachers are having to carry the burden.

You could always volunteer your services 

Mike


A little addition, children seem not to catch it, the super experts don’t know why.

Maybe because their immune systems are as yet unpolluted by pills and potions

[Skoosh]

This government had no intention of banning large gatherings of people and had to reverse this decision two days later, a shambles!  Their stated intention is to leave the EU with no agreement if necessary, an EU which supplies half of our grub & will hold all the cards when these amateurs finally get round the table. This emergency couldn't be foreseen & Brexit should therefore be binned! Peoples lives depend on this. To think that a few short weeks ago we were worrying about rainfall.

Skoosh.