This is all based on the premise the virus is still completely out of control though, which isn't really the case. The key factors they need is numbers to be down enough to test anyone with symptoms immediately, to be flexible in that individual schools can close again if there is a concern with cases of people attending, and to have necessary measures in place within the schools to control and monitor things correctly.
We are talking about a week and a half from now and realistically we are going to be at the first of those points by then, and the main thing obstructing the other two is less the virus and more people being obstructive to it. Over 3 weeks is enough time to put measures in place considering it should have been being discussed the whole time.
On your second point. Again, I keep saying this, but if that was the aim, we should have gone into lockdown MUCH sooner, and been fully monitering the case numbers MUCH MUCH sooner. We did neither of these things. I agree we should have done, obviously, but we didn't, and there isn't really much point plugging a leak in a boat after it's sitting at the bottom of the lake. You'll just drown yourself trying. There is an epidemic in care homes. The number of "elderly" or vulnerable who have died is already around 60,000...I know people don't want to accept it but the final number at this point isn't going to be far off the number if we'd done nothing at all. The main factor in saving lives at this point is and was making sure the NHS isn't overwhelmed.
Basically we waited until our last line of defence was in danger of getting breached before accepting we needed to do anything. It's not much use at this point trying to pretend we can still hide behind the other lines that aren't there anymore. How you monitor casse numbers and make sure they drop at this point changes little whether you start doing it now or in a month's time.
THis is also completely ignoring again the fact that we have a quite unique problem in this country with the sheer number of families who will struggle to survive due to the "economic impact". The number outweighs the likely death toll from the virus if 100% of the population got it. It's not a minor factor you just glance at and chuck to one side. At this point it's an absolutely massive concern that will threaten to overshadow the virus itself if it's not taken as seriously. THere are entire communities where i am who will be under threat. The same people who have used this as a stick to beat the tories with for years are the ones who are determined to ignore it just because it's no longer a weapon they can use, which makes me think that really they've never really had to experience or fully appreciate the scale of the problem. It's just ceased to be important because doing something to help suddenly isn't as simple as ranting from behind a computer or phone screen.
I don't think our government has done a good job at all, but at this point politics are nothing to do with it. I would put money on the fact the people advising the government at this stage are taking all these factors into consideration and coming up with a calculated plan that tries to balance them against each other. It is literally their job and what they spend all day doing, while clearly a vast majority of the people moaning about it have not done this. The biggest problem in all this is it took the government FAR too long to start listening to them.
Coeur d'Alene, though a beautiful little town, is just that. A little town that not even people 90 minutes away in Spokane would waste their time going to if they aren't planning to go camping or skiing.
