There's no sports, no events, huge numbers working from home, pubs and restaurants very quiet. Picadilly Circus currently has only a few people walking about. I think more extreme measures would be counterproductive, because clearly there's been a massive decrease in social interaction already, and people are already panicing.
Sounds fantastic. Glad most people are doing their part. If only Western governments were encouraging their citizens to wear masks. I know there aren’t enough even for healthcare workers but people in vulnerable groups should really be encouraged to wear makeshift masks. There’s no shortage of tea towels and if you strap one to you face you’re at 70% effectiveness catching virus sized particles when surgical masks are just under 90%. Decreasing the viral load that gets into your lungs decreases the possibility you’ll actually get infected.
> Professional and Home-Made Face Masks Reduce Exposure to Respiratory Infections among the General Population
> Principal Findings
> All types of masks reduced aerosol exposure, relatively stable over time, unaffected by duration of wear or type of activity, but with a high degree of individual variation. Personal respirators were more efficient than surgical masks, which were more efficient than home-made masks. Regardless of mask type, children were less well protected. Outward protection (mask wearing by a mechanical head) was less effective than inward protection (mask wearing by healthy volunteers).
> Conclusions/Significance
> Any type of general mask use is likely to decrease viral exposure and infection risk on a population level, in spite of imperfect fit and imperfect adherence, personal respirators providing most protection. Masks worn by patients may not offer as great a degree of protection against aerosol transmission.
It might be difficult for governments to admit that they were "lying to you for your own good." No official is going to want to suffer that embarrassment, and even though this is an emergency situation the normal laws of bureaucracies (avoid embarrassment at all costs) still apply.
Cheltenham Gold Cup went ahead (about 11th to 14th March), just a few days before wider restrictions were announced.
60,000 people attended Cheltenham, on top of their normal population of about 100,000 people.
It was much quieter in town this year (normally Winchcombe Street is full of people and activities, but this year it was mostly empty).
But still, that's 60k people travelling while the pandemic is in full swing.
I live close to a martial arts studio and they're still open, and that feels sub-optimal.
The other problem with not enforcing measures is that it leaves the public to pick up the bill. Some train tickets ("advance") are not refundable at the moment, and credit card companies are not allowing charge-backs because the trains are still running. If the government announced wider restrictions people could get refunds. This burden of payment is a tricky problem: the public should share some of the cost, but the way it's happening now is a bit haphazard and is disproportionately burdening poor people.
> martial arts studio and they're still open, and that feels sub-optimal.
Here in Norway all non-essential businesses that require close contact between people are required to close until further notice. That includes all gyms, tattooists, hair dressers, nail bars, non-essential physiotherapy, etc.
Bars, restaurants, and cafés have to enforce a one metre separation rule (usually done by removing every second table) and several towns have prepared orders to close them entirely if bars are discovered to not be complying.
We are also encouraged not to travel unnecessarily and people with cabins in the mountains are forbidden from using them unless they already live in the same kommune; this is to avoid overloading the health service in sparsely populated and remote areas.
> not enforcing measures is that it leaves the public to pick up the bill.
I've been bombarded with texts and emails from the companies that I deal with reassuring me that they will allow bills to be deferred, tickets refunded or rebooked without cost, etc. (including from National Express in the UK).
Yes any attempt to force people to stay indoors will lead to a huge amount of reactance and will just backfire a few weeks down the line with mass disobedience. That said, they should close the restaurants, bars, etc.
And in densely populated places it will result in violence that would require police and hospitalizations using the resources that otherwise would be allocated to the pandemic.
