Ireland’s plan

[cromwell]

Bumpimg this one because it says "plan" on it, thanks Osc!
On the Daily Mail website yesterday they had a story by Alex Brunner.
Who said that in the UK only 332 people under the age of 45 have died from the virus.
If this is truly so then surely we have to get those people back to work asap?
I don't blame they government at all for lockdown because we were dealing with the unknown; better to be safe than sorry etc.
But now we have some data to go on.
So what do we reckon? Protect the vulnerable for as long as it takes for a treatment/vaccine and let everyone else get on with it?

[Kaz]

So what do we reckon? Protect the vulnerable for as long as it takes for a treatment/vaccine and let everyone else get on with it?

I think we might have to!

[medsec222]

Protect the vulnerable by all means, but I would not like to see the over 70s forced to remain in lock down. I have got quite used to only going to the shops once or twice a week, and would by choice, continue doing much the same. If I could get back to my caravan in Wales at some stage in the future I would happily potter around in the same way.


Overall the time has come to slowly get people back to work, particularly as the Chancellor could possibly reduce the amount the government is paying in furlough from 80% of salary to 60%. Most people could not survive comfortably on just over half of their usual salary for very long, especially when there is no plan in place to get them back to full time employment, if they ever do get back to full time employment.

[Suff]

Critical point meds, if. The longer this goes on, the more people will never return to their old job and the likelihood that they go back to a job as well paid reduces.

We have had record employment supporting 11m people not working. This is about to implode and it is going to take time to fix.

The sooner they get started the better for the whole country.

We are seeing Nightingale hospitals unused, the NHS with hotspots in some areas and others basically idling. Cancer patients without treatment, other vital treatment going undone. The NHS teats millions of people every day and that is stuck in limbo right now.

I fully understand people like Mrs S saying that she would not spend the last year of her life (if it were her last), locked in her home. Then again, how many people have to have their careers crippled or even lose their lives due to lack of treatment so that the vulnerable don't have to feel they are being singled out.

There are views on both sides, but whilst they play out, lives are being lost and destroyed that are nothing to do with the virus.

Glad it is not my decision. Then again I would not run away from it either.

[Workingman]

Sod it! We might as well just give up and go back to normal and live with the consequences. Buzzfeed published all seven sector draft documents and the rules were all pretty weak - sit facing away from each other, one metre apart, screens between customer facing roles, sit one miss one on public transport, one way systems in offices and shops, No public gatherings bigger than 500 ... Practical? Possibly. Enforceable? No chance!

Human nature being what it is the whole thing will collapse like a pack of cards within weeks, maybe days. Under the present lockdown rules there were ever so many people out doing their own thing, anyway, and at least we now have the Nightingales in place to help cope with the second wave.

[Suff]

Not to mention the "potential" millions who have already had and recovered from the virus that, now the SK results have been revisited and ditched, can be pretty sure they will not get it again.

Yes we could, possibly, get a worse go than last time. But it is not likely now that so many have already been exposed and survived.

Hard to know how it is going to play out but the one thing that is pretty clear is that the most vulnerable still need to be very careful or risk the consequences. That includes being around children once they emerge from their homes again.

[Workingman]

What other countries did, what strategies they used and when and how they used them mean absolutely nothing to the UK's situation - not one bl**dy thing - they are some other place's history.

Those things we did do are also in the past and we cannot change them regardless of how right or wrong they were. It is the steps that we are about to take which are the only things that matter, and we had better get them right.

Recent actions, political, scientific and societal, do not fill me with confidence.

[Suff]

I would be surprised if anything fills you with confidence about Covid WM. We have a kitchen heaving with cooks and the broth is burning.

[Workingman]

Not quite, Suff, but I little bit of truth would not go amiss.

For instance a degree of clarity about how myself, Jo, and a few others on VV are going to get along is needed. Some of us can still do (risk) one shopping trip during the quiet times and keep to the 2m rule, but we will not survive the scrums at supermarkets and other shops, so there will have to be dedicated and strongly enforced times that are made available for us. Vallance said yesterday that six seconds at 1m is as risky as 15 mins at 2m. Rumour has it that the 1m rule will become the norm. Public transport will remain off-limits for the foreseeable future. No pubs, cinemas, theatres, cafes or restaurants for us either unless there are separate queues, entry and exit points or times, seating areas and bars / counters.

I can survive being a part-time hermit for a long time yet as I am an independent person who is still a bit street wise, but it would be nice if the Johnson or one of his team would just come out and say that's how things will be. I don't like Mr Mop-Head, but I would support him if he was honest about how things will be for the vulnerable groups and not pretend that all will be well.

[saundra]

Of been totally isolated since March 24/7
Nobody has mentioned the mental effect it has on,people it's alright getting a phone call from an organisation to ask if you are ok
Yes iv,got shopping meds and !y credit card handy
But I will never be me again I like others need our family's and friends
And a cuppa