Discussion » Statements » Rosie's Corner » "England lockdown may extend beyond December. Boris Johnson accused of 'giving in' to scientists." THIS IS BAD BECAUSE?

"England lockdown may extend beyond December. Boris Johnson accused of 'giving in' to scientists." THIS IS BAD BECAUSE?

Posted - November 1, 2020

Responses


  • 10465
    Because it goes against US policy.  And the entire world knows it MUST follow what the US says (lest they bomb or invade them).

    US Policy - "Keep everything open at all costs.  The virus is exaggerated, and only a few old people died (and it was from something else)."
      November 1, 2020 9:35 AM MST
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  • 113301
    Right. What would our POLICY be if President Barack Obama had been here? Oh how I wish it had happened on his watch. I shall ask. Thank you for your reply Shuhak! :)
      November 2, 2020 2:44 AM MST
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  • 3684

    I don't know who used the "giving in" phrase, but the Prime Minister and more to the point, the country, is caught between scientists strongly advising the restrictions continuing despite the economic problems they bring, and businesses - both owners and employees - desperate for their livelihoods.

    There is also the very serious problem that the scientists and doctors are warning of, that the spreading disease could be too much for the hospitals to stand, on top of all the parallel problems of deferred treatments for other diseases.  

    This is happening in many countries, not just the United(?) Kingdom; and no country can live on tick for ever, nor sustain a rampant plague for long.

    To be  brutally honest there is no clear end in sight for this pandemic, and one epidemiologist interviewed on the radio yesterday said some are warning it could continue for anything up to ten years, though she seemed not to agree with that necessarily.

    In any case it will not go away, any more than the bubonic plague that swept across Europe a few times over some hundreds of years has ever gone away. Though at least that is treatable fairly easily - IF caught early enough.  

    X
      November 1, 2020 9:43 AM MST
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  • 113301
    The countries led by INTELLIGENT CARING people immediately went into action and shut things down. No one moaned and groaned and bit**ed and whined about it. The people realized if they wanted to SAVE THEIR LIVES they had to comply SO THEY DID! In America we are cursed with having millions of whinya** babies who want what they want and they want it NOW no matter what it costs. Our numbskull leader supports that view and so what we have today is due to that. NUMBSKULLS. A crapshoot. We lose. If you don't listen to those WHO KNOW WHAT TO DO there is no hope at all. So I expect Jim and I will live out the rest of our lives masked gloved social distanced and ISOLATED. At 83 and 85 we want to survive and so we are doing our part. The numbskull dumb cluck duck quacks and dumbsh**s aren't. We cannot control them. So our lives in in their hands except if we simply stay away from them. Hunker down. Become hermits. We are survivors. We do what we must and gladly so. We have nothing but CONTEMPT for the weasels. Thank you for your reply Durdle! :) This post was edited by RosieG at November 2, 2020 2:28 AM MST
      November 2, 2020 2:27 AM MST
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  • 537
    The new lockdown, beginning this week, is supposed to last or 4 weeks exactly, but the Government has warned that it may be extended beyond Dec 2nd if transmission are still deemed to be too high. Part of the motivation is that if we curb the spread of the virus now, then we won't have to live under such severe restrictions in the Christmas season; we will then have more opportunity to socialise with and visit family members. 

    But really there is no such thing as "giving in to science". Equally qualified scientists may disagree with each other at any given time and anyway all health policy is based on value judgements.

    For instance, what if someone came up with a model demonstrating that a 6-week lockdown would save 5,000 lives but lead to 250,000 more long-term unemployed and thousands of failed businesses, bankrupcies and evictions, leading to more sickness and secondary deaths from poverty? More cases of spousal and domestic violence? Thousands more cases of mental health problems, increased drug addiction, alcoholism, self-harm and suicide attempts, requiring treatment and time off work as well as an additional burden on the National Health Service for months or years to come? Cuts in other public services to pay for furlough schemes and tax breaks? Once you look beneath the surface the correct thing to do is not always that straightforward. 
      November 2, 2020 11:45 AM MST
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  • 3684
    Not only not straightforwards but made even harder by a pandemic whose behaviour is so difficult to predict.

    Also, going back to Rosie's point about "whining" whilst most people in Britain and other European countries do complain but generally follow the rules, they are tiring of them and if it continues much longer will find it more and more difficult to co-operate. Possibly, complacency will be the main attitude rather than outright mutiny.
      November 2, 2020 1:57 PM MST
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