I'm hoping this isn't the case
I'm hoping all the people who panic bought have got everything they wanted and the people they panicked into panic buying also start to feel reassured by shelves gradually getting refilled and healthier
However if we have "lockdown" like they've done in Spain, where people are still free to work and visit the shops, but all other social gatherings are banned for 15 days then the country is going to go ******** mental and shelves will be stripped bare
I think Boris has done the right thing in not testing for coronavirus anymore, all it does it cause panic and people to strip shelves
I wish everyone would just use common sense, don't socialise, wash your hands, stay at home if you're ill, don't panic buy and everything will work out ok
I think Boris has done the right thing in not testing for coronavirus anymore, all it does it cause panic and people to strip shelves
That's a tough one. I can understand wanting to avoid panic, but not testing means we're basing our reaction on limited information which is rarely good. They may well be able to extrapolate it fairly accurately without mass testing now. They can choose what information to share for now but they can't hope to hide the numbers of critical cases/deaths, so it may only be moving any panic further down the road. They may have good reasons to do that, I don't know.
I do know countries like South Korea have implemented massive, massive testing, and had quite a lot of of success containing it.
America is the other end of the scale with bugger-all testing, so they have very limited intelligence on what's happening. I think they are going to have carnage, they basically haven't got a functioning public health system, Trump closed down all the programs to prepare for this stuff, and their society is even more polaized than ours.
The UK is really out on a limb with our policy of 'building herd immunity', we've made a very different decision to the rest of the world to just let people get sick and only isolate those at most risk (and we aren't even doing that yet). I really, really hope it proves correct in the medium/long term. In the fairly short term I think the government will be despised for choosing a course that means more deaths.
I do trust that they are listening to scientists, but it's not like there is a consensus, the science is not settled, they are making the best predictions they can. For example, a key reason given for not implementing more social distancing, lockdowns, school closures etc now is that the behavioural scientists believe people will get bored and stop taking it seriously. A lot of other scientists disagree and it's reasonable to ask them to explain why they think that.
It also means that if you're confident you won't get bored and start mixing with lots of people again in a few months, stopping all non-essential contact now is helpful - like you say, common sense!
In theory the government is doing what the science says is best for the country, but that's not necessarily what's best for your relatives, or whoever else. It appears they may have decided that the deaths are going to happen anyway sooner or later, and it's better to keep a stronger economy to cope in the aftermath. Everyone else seems to have decided it's better to take a massive economic hit now to save lives. They are going to have a hell of a job justifying it and it's quite possible that they relent and bring in all those measures anyway, just too late.
Interesting times