Forget about money Boris, you must put health first | Verity Lush

In my own opinion, unless anything has changed by the time this goes to print, it’s wishy washy at best.

You only have to read the advice of WHO officials – and their statistics regarding how China now has a handle on things following lockdown – to see what we should be modelling.

But China has an entirely different culture to us and does more of what it’s told, with less whining.

Boris has dumped the bombshell about school closures on not just the parents but also the teachers of the country.

Senior leaders were given zero notice and had to then put their heads together until the early hours to draw up plans to see how they can safeguard uncertain numbers, with uncertain staffing, for uncertain lengths of time.

The plan to keep schools open for our most vulnerable and our key workers is absolutely a good idea. It is crucial. However, teachers will still be heading into petri dishes with the super-spreaders of society – but with neither hazmat suits nor hand sanitizer.

Does this mean it’s taken as a given that they will teach until each one drops?

According to the country’s chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, the people who become most ill with the virus are often those who have had huge exposure – like healthcare workers – but this will also mean teachers.

And where is complete lockdown?

If we are to model Italy now, perhaps we stand a better chance.

But if we continue selfish socialising (as many are), then we’ll still be dealing with this at Christmas and beyond.

One also has to look at the subjective opinions behind the decisions now governing us.

Boris plus cronies appear to equal economy, whereas countries who’ve been in lockdown long enough to show the positive effects, seem to have wised up to doing away with thoughts of money and focusing instead on lives.

Only time will eventually tell whether Boris’s gamble will pay off.

We don’t know who has it and who they are spreading it to

Given the advice of the WHO is to test everyone who displays symptoms and to then trace contacts – as China did – why on earth has Boris decided that we will not be doing that?

It is common sense. The WHO are saying ‘TEST, TEST, TEST!’ But the UK are plodding on, swarming around in the meantime, having attended concerts last weekend, and testing minimally in hospitals only.

Given we’ve got this advice from scientists, why are our scientists giving such conflicting advice to those the world over – including Harvard epidemiologists?

If we don’t know how many people have it, how can we tackle it? We don’t know who has it, where they are, or who they’re spreading it to.

Floods, fire, virus – we are living in interesting times

On a lighter note, the evenings are brightening and the spring flowers are in bloom.

We may soon only experience it from behind our windows but at least we’ll have cheerier views and, perhaps, a little more sunshine.

There is a Chinese curse, ‘may you live in interesting times,’ and it has never seemed more apt.

Australia has been ravaged by fire, the UK has had devastating flooding, and a new and relatively unknown virus is sweeping the world.

We are only three months in, so let us hope the authorities are able to make a dent in this outbreak.

We must all take responsibility too, especially for our elderly neighbours.