Only be led by science and medicine

Lockdown should continue until the experts in science and medicine have done enough research and have enough evidence that it is safe to ease it.

Why the contribution is important

The easing of lockdown must be done slowly and with major caution. It can't be based on emotions or individual needs and wants. The NHS must be at a point where it has the capacity to restart all of its routine work ie. Clinics, dentists, operations. There must be an evidence based approach to why it's safe to open businesses and how they will manage social distancing.

by Gillymo on May 08, 2020 at 05:00PM

Current Rating

Average rating: 2.9
Based on: 10 votes

Comments

  • Posted by kedra May 08, 2020 at 17:41

    Nice idea in principle. I am a dentist. The reality and truth is that we can't fully mitigate the risks to ourselves, staff or patients in the dental clinic until we are all vaccinated. So individual desire comes into it and we have to balance social needs with scientific advice and accept some risk. I hate that I've had to fob people off with antibiotics and painkillers when I could have taken sensible precautions and dealt with the problem myself had I been allowed to see them and help them out properly.

    My partner is a doctor, in her hospital they've been very quiet. She's had to take 2 weeks of annual leave they've been so quiet and overstaffed as they expected more than this virus delivered. So we don't lack the facilities or capacity, we lack the political will to make the difficult decision to return to normality. Time to value getting on with our lives in the face of adversity and the acceptance that although we will all individually attempt to mitigate viral spread, there is a small increased risk of this we must accept and return to work.

    It's not being selfish, it's recognising that we all rely on each other in a highly specialised world economy and if nobody is producing then we are all gradually impoverished. It's not just consumption and services that suffer, research and development, education, tax revenues are all hit by this.

    And the evidence base and modelling are understandably rubbish. A novel virus, computer modeled by Ferguson's sketchy algorithms based on inadequate testing so introducing massive uncertainties. Couple that with the disease progression as a dynamic pandemic over time and you realise the science isn't all that solid and should be used cautiously. A useful guide but political judgement and leadership matter otherwise we risk unelected scientists running the country by proxy.

  • Posted by Alasdrum May 08, 2020 at 18:38

    Sorry but this is nonsense. Scientists and doctors will always want to do what they believe will save the most lives. That is their job. Unfortunately we live in the real world where real people have lives and where we will all starve to death (or die of something other than Covid19) if the economy is allowed to fail.

  • Posted by JanetMoxley May 08, 2020 at 21:02

    Measures to reduce spread must be evidenced. There is very limited evidence that masks/face covering help in everyday life. There is evidence that crowded, confided spaces present a higher risk of transmission. Implementing measures which are not evidenced will lead to people deciding that all precautions are unnecessary.
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