They keep saying this, but it hasn't worked for Italy!
They did nothing, because they didn't know, and look where they are. I've no idea why the UK government think it will go a different way here!? Madness.

That's cynical, isn' it. Even if it worked in the long run (let's hope so) there will be a much higher rate of people dying from the disease if the medical system cannot handle all the heavily infected people (that may need intensive medical care) at the same time. Thus it is much more rational to try to slow down the infection wave (e.g. by means of isolation) so every person can get the medical aid that he/she needs when he/she catches the disease.

Uk are totally unprepared for this event
80% of the population likely to get infected unless a vaccine is found

With the increasing numbers being tested positive and from data around the world showing the vast increases daily it is damage control to stop panic by releasing a statement of herd control to stop mass panic rather than the public making their own assumptions from figures released each day !

With likely 3% of a population of each country to be tested as lack of testing kits the full scale of this epidemic is unlikely until the year end .

Have anyone seen the videos smuggled out of China? Does not look like it is under control!

Can't compare Italy to anywhere else.. given the population, hospital density, amount of traveling most citizens do etc.. that's a special kinda case

if and when the UK goes into lockdown will I be allowed to walk my dog in the park?

Good question. I imagine that our government are a long way from total lockdown. I think it will just be leisure, shops, schools etc first of all.

In this instance, Italy had a shït response to the coronavirus.

Both South Korea and Italy had detected cases at the same time, and because of the South Korean government's aggressive response to testing in Jan/Feb, they were able to contain and control the virus early on. Italians did jack all at the beginning of the outbreak. There was only a rise in reports of racist attacks/xenophobic behaviour towards east asians in Italy. The country that also brought you Stefano Gabbana, Matteo Salvini, throwing bananas at a woman politician, and monkeys in Serie A, karma is a bitch.

As it stands today; Italy- over 21k infected, and 1400+ dead; South Korea 8k infected and 72 dead. South Korea did not have to go into lockdown to get those results.
Let them sing.

www.ft.com/content/2951caa2-63ed-11e8-a39d-4df188287fff

European member countries have all kinds of funds and loans they can receive as being part of the eu hence they are quicker to put restrictions in than the uk

First round of restrictions in the uk probably timed around the school holidays to ease costs

This evening (and into tomorrows papers) it seems like the Johnson Govt in the UK is pushing back a bit on the accusation that they're not doing enough, fast enough, by releasing (or 'leaking') sketches of their plans for the next phase - and it looks like restrictions will start next weekend with large public gatherings, then the shops/restaurant/pub level a week or two later, and then schools after that.

Seems people are rather optimistic thinking that government and policies can control the spread of a virus. There’s really only two options, continue as normal and let it run it’s course. Or completely shut down everything and more or less impose martial law.

If you half ass it like most places have been doing, canceling school here and there, closing borders and restricting travel, but not completely restricting everyone fo their homes, it still spreads.

Testing is great in theory, but what does it achieve? The end result is the same, self quarantine. Whether you have symptoms or you’ve been confirmed positive, they tell you to self quarantine. Sure those in contact with you now know to worry, but if everything isn’t shut down yet, are they going to not work for the next two weeks on the off chance their contact with you infected them?

People as individuals have to weigh the pros and cons of their actions, and more often than not act in self interest. So unless individuals are well prepared to self quarantine and movement is restricted and enforced it will still spread.

What happens when everyone has been home for two weeks or more, people run out of food, stores aren’t open, and even if they were those driving the trucks to resupply them haven’t been to work? Modern people and society can’t function with the shut down required to prevent the spread of a pandemic. We’re just fortunate this virus apparently “only” has a 2% death rate because it’s a folly to believe anything can realistically be done to stop it.

With a little luck it’ll prove to be mostly seasonal like SARS, MERS, and the Flu, so we’ll see temporary relief in a couple months. Even banking on a vaccine is optimistic considering the flu vaccines average effectiveness is far from impressive. Prepare for this to be a recurring issue, and you’ll be ahead of the curve and do a far greater job protecting your self and family than any government or policies can do.

By the time they show symptoms and know to be tested they’ve already had multiple days to spread it. At this point in time, anyone who is ill should self quarantine themself out of caution regardless of testing positive for COVID. I’m not trying to argue that testing shouldn’t be more available, but it really doesn’t solve anything. Especially if people are more concerned about themselves than others. Would testing positive for covid make them more likely to not break their self quarantine versus knowing theyre sick and ‘maybe having it’? Perhaps, but that’s the biggest positive about upping the testing. The insufficient testing is just a scape goat for explaining something that really can’t be controlled. We could test everyone to make people feel better, than the following week have an increase in infections.

To date, South Korea pop. 51m have completed 250,000 tests, USA pop. 329m have only completed 14,000 tests. A lot of the us testing kits are faulty.

The Trump admin were given a headstart in Feb to do something about this but pissed away the opportunity. Also the us offices of organizations I dealt with in Feb were complacent in their attitudes.

South Korea and Italy both started with Covid-19 at the same time in Jan/Feb. South Korea went testing like crazy, and Italy didn't.

Now Italians have over 21k cases 1400+ dead, and South Korea only 8k cases 72 dead. Testing is better than not testing, numbers don't lie.

Right now Italy lead China in infections per million.
Italy - 21k infections per pop. 60M
China - 80k infections per pop. 1.4B

This will start the xenophobia towards italians and their pizza and pasta restaurants.

As I said before, I’m certainly not anti testing, just not convinced it’s much more than a feel good thing. If people are unable or unwilling to self quarantine it really does nothing. Even if they are they’ve had days to spread it before testing positive.

It’s worth mentioning that correlation isn’t necessarily causation. Just because South Korea tested more and has lower rates of infection than Italy doesn’t necessarily mean it itself has prevented the spread. Maybe South Koreans are more willing to stay at home when ill, it certainly seems they’re more willing to take precautions than us in the US. I haven’t seen a single individual in public wearing a mask. Any pictures I see from over there they all have them on public transportation. There’s certainly cultural and societal differences between Italy and South Korea, any in terms of social interaction or anything of that nature could certainly have a significant impact on transmission rates.