Read on Twitter
1. This thread has been given a new lease of life today. People keep saying, "We can't do #ZeroCovid, it doesn't fit with our way of life."
Look around.
What way of life?
The one we used to have?
The UK has been under varying degrees of restriction since March 23rd 2020. https://twitter.com/adamhamdy/status/1346023712643022849
Look around.
What way of life?
The one we used to have?
The UK has been under varying degrees of restriction since March 23rd 2020. https://twitter.com/adamhamdy/status/1346023712643022849
2. Nearly a year of having our social and economic freedoms curtailed in one way or another. Nearly a year of muted economic activity. Nearly a year of mass death and disease.
#ZeroCovid doesn't fit with a way of life that doesn't exist anymore.
#ZeroCovid doesn't fit with a way of life that doesn't exist anymore.
3. The question isn't whether it fits with our old freewheeling ways, but whether it would lead to better outcomes than the UK's current (poorly defined) strategy? Experiences in New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam, China, Taiwan and elsewhere very much suggest it would.
4. #ZeroCovid isn't about what's possible. It's about what's necessary. Decide what's necessary and figure out a way to make it possible. We can't force travellers to quarantine in hotels for two weeks? Why not? Taiwan does. And if that's what's necessary, why aren't we doing it?
5. I've heard some odd things said about #ZeroCovid
Simple-minded clod Matt Hancock said Zero Covid is impossible because no country has had zero cases.
Zero Covid sets out an ambition. It signals a country treats any infections as serious incidents. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-matt-hancock-vaccinations-spectator-b1783408.html
Simple-minded clod Matt Hancock said Zero Covid is impossible because no country has had zero cases.
Zero Covid sets out an ambition. It signals a country treats any infections as serious incidents. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-matt-hancock-vaccinations-spectator-b1783408.html
6. It gears public health institutions towards a target of zero, instead of 60,000 or whatever the UK government now considers acceptable. It recognises that aiming for zero gives every public health intervention its best chance of success. From social distancing to masks.
7. From test, trace, isolate and support to hospital treatment, everything works better if cases are as close to zero as possible.
8. Another argument I've heard from a few people is that it would take two years for Britain to become self-sufficient and that we couldn't close our borders to imports without severe disruption to food supply. Another misconception. #ZeroCovid countries have maintained trade.
9. Border closures applied to people, and even those were only temporary until infection control procedures could be established. China, Taiwan and South Korea all maintain international links, subject to strict infection control.
10. Independent SAGE recently published a useful document on improving safety measures in schools, calling for masks, ventilation, smaller teaching groups etc.
Unless the UK gets cases down significantly, I'm not sure these measures will be sufficient.
https://www.independentsage.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Schools-Jan-2021-final.pdf
Unless the UK gets cases down significantly, I'm not sure these measures will be sufficient.
https://www.independentsage.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Schools-Jan-2021-final.pdf
11. The new variant and the more relaxed lockdown will make it very difficult to bring R below 1. How can schools be opened at full capacity against a backdrop of 50K to 60K infections, 3,000 to 4,000 hospital admissions, and 1,000+ deaths per day?
12. Some say the British people don't have the stomach for the measures taken in New Zealand, Vietnam, Australia and elsewhere. Do we have the stomach for what's happening now? Are we going to have the stomach for a nation conversation about death? https://twitter.com/adamhamdy/status/1346538110490972160?s=20
13. The government doesn't really have a strategy beyond straddling some awful middle way between the economy and health. It's giving the UK the worst possible outcomes; mass disease and death, and a crippled economy. https://twitter.com/adamhamdy/status/1315914586927837185?s=20
14. Scientists are calling for stricter measures. The public are desperate for an end to this. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55602828
15. The PM was not able to categorically commit to children being back in schools before the summer holidays, because even the eternal optimist understands this is a gamble. There are many uncertainties in the government's current approach. https://twitter.com/adamhamdy/status/1346537754025463808?s=20
16. The plan to vaccinate the vulnerable and then open up comes with some serious risks and @dgurdasani1 does a great job of explaining them. https://twitter.com/dgurdasani1/status/1347483541920223232?s=20
17. If it goes wrong, we might find ourselves living with restrictions for another year or more. Pursuing a target of eradication using non-pharmaceutical interventions and vaccines gives both the best chance of success.
18. We know what works. We can see other countries enjoying success.
Why isn't there greater public outcry for the government to stop gambling on moonshots and longshots, and for it to deliver simple, effective measures that have worked elsewhere? https://twitter.com/adamhamdy/status/1340678713751572483?s=20
Why isn't there greater public outcry for the government to stop gambling on moonshots and longshots, and for it to deliver simple, effective measures that have worked elsewhere? https://twitter.com/adamhamdy/status/1340678713751572483?s=20
19. How long do we accept suboptimal and risky policies? @AliNouriPhD @SafaMote @yaneerbaryam @devisridhar @dgurdasani1
20. Adding this pan-European call for more effective measures to contain #COVID19
h/t @ViolaPriesemann
https://containcovid-pan.eu/
h/t @ViolaPriesemann
https://containcovid-pan.eu/
21. And the John Snow Memorandum which called for countries to learn from those that had implemented effective measures to reduce transmission. https://twitter.com/thelancet/status/1316507074415779840
22. And @endCOVID19 which offers information and resources for those interested in eliminating #COVID19 https://twitter.com/endcovid19/status/1316071057489645577
