COVID-19
Short article over at the Specator: Why Britain Isn’t Opting for a Coronavirus Lockdown
Patrick Vallance, the Chief Scientific Officer, explained that the aim is to try and delay the peak of the disease and then stretch it out over a longer period so the NHS is better able to deal with it. […] Chris Witty, the Chief Medical Officer, stressed that one of the reasons the UK was not moving to more dramatic measures – for example, telling all old people to self-isolate – was that if the UK moved now, then the public would tire of that at just the wrong moment. Some people argue that people will be happy to do whatever it takes to avoid this virus. But staying home for three months is no small thing and it is not hard to believe that people would tire of this in time.
I personally believe Britain needs to have a massive ‘over-reaction’. Now. Only workers in the utilities, food (supermarkets, not restaurants) and other essential industries should be working. Everyone else needs to stay at home. We can either suffer briefly now for two weeks as a nation or drag this misery out for the rest of the year and and cause a lot more deaths. Even now, in this late hour, everyone I’ve spoken to about Coronavirus is treating it as little more than a joke or at worst just a minor inconvience. In the past 24 hours or so some high-profile names have tested positive for the virus which should hopefully aid public awareness of how dangerous this all is though.
I somewhat fortunately happen to follow a guy on Twitter who has from the start taken a very keen interest in Choronavirus and its spread. And when he said on February 22nd that “we give the chance of pandemic 54% to 75%” I started to take it very seriously. I haven’t been to the gym since and have gotten all my exercise from rural walking and cycling. Sadly I still have to work, but aside from that the only other place I go is to the supermarket. And I’ve been going as soon as they open as it’s very quiet and less hands will have likely fondled my food. And if it’s not protected by a bag I don’t eat it. No more loose fruit or vegetables.
Aside: I don’t know when the Spectator website got a redesign, but it’s both functional and stunning.