[DanaC]

And to think, this is Boris who finally admitted the pandemic exists - only after he ended up in the ICU

**Meeep! Meeep! Total Bullshit Alert Meep!**


Selected highlights of the Covid-19 timeline in the UK. There had previously been some activity around tracking incoming travellers from affected areas and instructions to self-isolate for anybody with a new persistent cough or a temperature - then things started to get a lot more serious:

2 March – The government holds a COBRA meeting to discuss its preparations and response to the virus, as the number of UK cases jumps to 36.[16]

3 March – The government publishes its action plan for dealing with coronavirus. This includes scenarios ranging from a milder pandemic to a "severe prolonged pandemic as experienced in 1918" and warns that a fifth of the national workforce could be absent from work during the infection's peak.

5 March - The first death from coronavirus in the UK is confirmed,[20] as the number of cases exceeds 100, with a total of 115 having tested positive. England's Chief Medical Officer, Chris Whitty, tells MPs that the UK has now moved to the second stage of dealing with COVID-19 – from "containment" to the "delay" phase

6 March – The Prime Minister announces £46 million in funding for research into a coronavirus vaccine and rapid diagnostic tests. During a visit to a laboratory in Bedfordshire, he says: "It looks like there will be a substantial period of disruption where we have to deal with this outbreak."

11 March - Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, presents the Johnson Government's first budget, which includes £30 billion in measures to protect the economy from coronavirus.[


13 March - Elections including the English local elections, London mayoral election and police and crime commissioner elections, scheduled for May 2020, are postponed for a year because of the coronavirus.

14 March - A further 10 people are reported to have died from COVID-19, almost doubling the UK death toll from 11 to 21. The government's aim for a "herd immunity" approach generates controversy.

This is where we see a change in approach as the flattening the curve + herd immunity argument loses ground to a more aggressive attempt to flatten the curve while fully protecting the most vulnerable groups through extreme social distancing - it could be argued that they should have changed stream sooner, but this was a dynamic situation with a brand new disease and contradictory and changing positions held by different experts in the field - that field had already started to coalesce around the idea that herd immunity was not the way to go and I think Boris and his government were too slow to change tack.

I don't think that means they weren't taking it seriously.

15 March - Health Secretary Matt Hancock says that every UK resident over the age of 70 will be told "within the coming weeks" to self-isolate for "a very long time" to shield them from coronavirus

- The government announces plans to hold daily televised press conferences to update the public on the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, starting on Monday 16 March.


16 March - Prime Minister Boris Johnson advises everyone in the UK against "non-essential" travel and contact with others, to curb coronavirus, as well as to work from home if possible and avoid visiting social venues such as pubs, clubs or theatres. Pregnant women, people over the age of 70 and those with certain health conditions are urged to consider the advice "particularly important", and will be asked to self-isolate within days.

- The government issues a call for businesses to support the supply of ventilators and ventilator components; the NHS has access to 8,175 ventilators but it is thought that up to 30,000 may be needed.


17 March - NHS England announces that from 15 April all non-urgent operations in England will be postponed, to free up 30,000 beds to help tackle the virus.]

- The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announces that £330bn will be made available in loan guarantees for businesses affected by the virus.

- The Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against all non-essential international travel due to the pandemic and the border restrictions put in place by many countries in response

We now see a series of measures that are beyond anything I have seen in my lifetime:

18 March - The government announces that all schools in the country will shut from the afternoon of Friday
20 March, except for those looking after the children of key workers and vulnerable children. No exams will take place this academic year, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson confirms

- The government announces emergency legislation to bring in a ban on new evictions for three months, as part of measures to help protect renters in social and private rented accommodation

19 March - The government announces £1.6bn for local authorities, to help with the cost of adult social care and support for the homeless; and £1.3bn to the NHS and social care, to allow up to 15,000 people to be discharged from hospital

20 March - Chancellor Rishi Sunak announces that the government will pay 80% of wages for employees not working, up to £2,500 a month, as part of "unprecedented" measures to protect people's jobs.

- Prime Minister Boris Johnson orders all cafes, pubs and restaurants to close from the evening of 20 March, except for take-away food, to tackle coronavirus. All the UK's nightclubs, theatres, cinemas, gyms and leisure centres are told to close "as soon as they reasonably can"

22 March - Boris Johnson warns that "tougher measures" may be introduced if people do not follow government advice on social distancing

23 March - The government announces emergency measures to safeguard the nation's rail network, with season ticket holders given refunds if working from home, and rail franchise agreements nationalised for at least six months to prevent rail companies from collapsing.

- In a televised address, Boris Johnson announces a UK-wide partial lockdown, to contain the spread of the virus. The British public are instructed that they must stay at home, except for certain "very limited purposes" – shopping for basic necessities; for "one form of exercise a day"; for any medical need; and to travel to and from work when "absolutely necessary". However, when these restrictions came into force on 26 March, the statutory instrument omitted any limit on the number of exercise sessions. A number of other restrictions are imposed, with police given powers to enforce the measures, including the use of fines

24 March - For the first time, all of the UK's mobile networks send out a government text alert, ordering people to stay at home. The message reads: "GOV.UK CORONAVIRUS ALERT. New rules in force now: you must stay at home. More info and exemptions at gov.uk/coronavirus Stay at home. Protect the NHS. Save lives."

- Health Secretary Matt Hancock announces the government will open a temporary hospital, the NHS Nightingale Hospital at the ExCeL London, to add extra critical care capacity in response to coronavirus pandemic

26 March - The government announces that the self-employed will be paid 80% of profits, up to £2,500 a month, to help them cope during the economic crisis triggered by COVID-19.

Then Boris tests positive but continues to work in isolation:

27 March - Prime Minister Boris Johnson tests positive for COVID-19, and will self-isolate in 10 Downing Street.

29 March - The government will send a letter to 30 million households warning things will "get worse before they get better" and that tighter restrictions could be implemented if necessary. The letter will also be accompanied by a leaflet setting out the government's lockdown rules along with health information.

- Dr Jenny Harries, England's deputy chief medical officer, suggests it could be six months before life can return to "normal", because social distancing measures will have to be reduced "gradually".

.... A lot more continued to happen and there were further funding announcements and guidance coming from the government, with Boris still very involved before he got very ill ...and then:

6 April - Prime Minister Boris Johnson is taken into intensive care at St Thomas' Hospital. It is announced that First Secretary of State Dominic Raab will deputise for him.

There are a lot of criticisms that can be levelled at Boris for his handling of this, but the suggestion that he and his government were not treating this as a dangerous pandemic and a looming national crisis before he ended up catching the virus and landing in the ICU is a bare faced lie.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeli...United_Kingdom