Time to start planning for when this ends

Whitewavemark2, I think the rollercoaster ride will inevitably continue. We are (supposed to be) flattening the curve, reducing the peak and buying time for (much hoped for) new treatments for the virus.

The economy can't take extended shutdown without dire consequences. Therefore, all I can foresee is another dose of the same. Restrictions will be lifted for a time, the infection and death rates will rise - and we'll be in lockdown again!

As for Brexit, the delays won't last forever. I'm glad we began when we did. We'd pay dearly for the consequences of the virus, propping up economies in the worst hit countries.

The EU are giving British business £50billion umbrella scheme to support British businesses affected by the corona virus

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Monday it had approved a 50 billion pound British “umbrella” scheme to support companies affected by coronavirus outbreak.
The approval is in line with modified EU rules allowing a temporary and limited amount of aid to businesses facing a sudden shortage of liquidity. The British aid would take the form of grants, equity injections, tax advantages and loans.

Every little helps?. Thank you EU

I did start a similar thread last week but it died off because of people turning it into a political slanging match. Apart from the Scottish lady who though she was above the law and could travel to her holiday home at weekends, our politicians are trying their best to keep this plague under control.
Please lets use our common sense and start looking to the future which is going to be tough, because pointing the finger at whatever political party you think is to blame isn't any help at all.

The deaths in the coming weeks will be as a result of infection picked up about 3 or so weeks ago.

I wonder how much fewer deaths there would have been if the government had seen sense and stopped

Cheltenham

The Liverpool Madrid football game

Some sort of pop concert

Etc.

Whilst the country was beginning to close down no one in the government seemed to be up to the decision of stopping those large gatherings.

I would like to give the government praise for reversing its decision not to accept help from the EU repatriation scheme which we left in January.

This means that any Brit now stuck abroad can go to any EU embassy and get help which is of course what we could do last year.

Well done the U.K. government and an enormous thank you to the EU for its generosity of spirit.

What we can blame the government for gilly is firstly allowing the number of hospital beds, ICU beds( and associated ventilators) to be very low in comparison with other European countries over time. Secondly we can blame them for slowness in getting new orders in allowing other countries to be ahead of us. Who do you blame for that then?

I can’t see how we can blame the government for lack of ventilators etc. My DH had a long stay in an ICU last year in a small hospital with 7 intensive care beds /ventilators . Sometimes the unit was full and other times he was the only one there . Are we seriously suggesting that hospitals should have had hundreds of spare ventilators just incase ?

There is no sign the Tories are letting go of Brexit, and there is no sign the British electorate are going to get rid of Tory rule. There will be planning for the money people to entrench their own interests, as before. The NHS will continue to be privatised.

(oops - ignore double paste - the point of lockdown is so that we can process demand through in batches)

There are a limited number of ICU beds and ventilators. People need them for a few weeks. Half the people on ventilators don't survive.

The point of lockdown is so As long as people continue to ignore lockdowns etc, this virus will never endthat we can process demand through in batches - allowing more people the chance to get one!

EllanVannin

'As long as people continue to ignore lockdowns etc, this virus will never end'

The point of lockdown is to slow the spread of the virus - not to stop it!

It is very hard indeed to make posts about the virus non-political. We have seen a government wedded to austerity that has allowed (indeed facilitated) public services to dwindle to the detriment of society then and now, and of our ability to combat the virus. Unless that political doctrine is turned on its head, their will be more hardship to come.

I do not see a speedy end to this pandemic and agree that those of us in vulnerable groups will be isolating for a very long time while reliable vaccines and treatment are developed. And then the darned thing will mutate and we will be back to square one.

Hopefully there will be some rethinking at some stage with investment in health services, preventive services and public health. And some serious thought about lifestyles so that we become more self-sufficient in food and other goods and cut down on airmiles for all purposes.

Wouldn’t ? otherwise you would expire lemon

I would hold your breath lemon that is why we need constructive criticism. A gentle nudge to ensure they are doing the right thing.

Yes, Suzie I agree completely.

Italy and Spain have a high death toll, are they being accused of a badly lead rollercoaster approach? Let’s not turn this into a political point scoring exercise.
Of course there needs to be an exit plan, it may be being formulated already, but until it ‘peaks’ and then starts to go down, the government just need to be on top of what’s needed right now.

As long as people continue to ignore lockdowns etc, this virus will never end.
As it is there's no guarantee that everyone will continue to be as scrupulously clean as is practiced at present.

Yes grow I should have differentiated between the shielded group and the rest of the vulnerable group. My guess would be that all vulnerable carry on with restrictions and then just the former group. One problem is of course both groups have otherwise economically active people in them whose absence impacts society.

Very apt, growstuff, but still there are many who think they're doing a wonderful job!

suzie I see no alternative for the 1.5 million most vulnerable other than total shielding.

"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."

Plato

I think firstly people need to get used to the idea that there is no speedy, easy way to get out if this. Expectations really need managing and we can and should be looking at other countries that ( fortunately for us) are ahead of us. My guess is that this is probably happening. What I think may be likely is that vulnerable groups have to continue with their restricted lives for much longer. The problem is the gap that leaves in areas like child care and other roles in the community. Not to mention managing the emotional cost to those of us affected

The problem the country has is that we can have no confidence in a government that simply bumbled into this crises without any planning whatsoever, has not met a single one of its targets and as far as I can ascertain continues along the same way.

If we 'get back to normal' and make no drastic changes, the chances are that this is just the start of the pandemics.

Kier Starmer’s interview with the Sunday Times (not my newspaper of choice) raised issues, which should be part of the current discussions, including vaccine centres to be developed so that everyone can be vaccinated when a vaccine is available. He suggested an exit strategy for the end of the lock down, should be being formulated and discussed now.

When Hancock was asked about an exit strategy, he said he has nothing to share with the public. Surely it would be reassuring to have some indication of the contents of the exit strategy, so that people understand how we will eventually move forward from this.

*and grasp