Johnson ADVISES on coronavirus containment – at what cost to businesses and people?
Boris Johnson has suggested that people might be well-advised to avoid their place of work, their local pub, and travel in his latest bid to stop the spread of coronavirus:
- He has suggested – not ordered – that everyone should avoid public gatherings and places like pubs, clubs and theatres.
That’s fine if the pub has insurance to cover an interruption of business – and if the insurance company pays out. Johnson has only advised people to stay away, and interruption of business insurance is specifically to cover losses suffered by a business after a disaster. Considering the number of pubs that may have such insurance, and therefore the likely number of claims, it seems likely that the insurance companies might themselves go bankrupt if they pay out.
… That’s unless they have insurance too.
I don’t think they’ll pay. I think Johnson has deliberately tried to avoid forcing the insurers to take a financial hit by restricting his announcement to advice, and they will take advantage of that, no matter what it does to the economy in the long run.
Personally, I do much of my best work in pubs so this is a bitter blow.
- He wants everyone who can work from home to do so.
That won’t go down well with some companies. One newspaper that formerly employed me (which shall remain nameless) refused point-blank to allow home working during normal working hours because the bosses were convinced that I would bunk off and enjoy myself instead.
That decision proved to be catastrophically myopic (although this firm didn’t actually go to the wall, like many others after I left them).
- All “unnecessary” visits to friends and relatives in care homes should cease, he says.
How do you define a “necessary” visit to a friend or relative in a care home? I’m assuming that they’ll just close their doors to visitors.
- People should only use the NHS “where we really need to” – and can reduce the burden on workers by getting advice on the NHS website where possible, he says.
This is transparent enough; he knows he and his party have ruined the National Health Service to the point where it cannot cope with a pandemic.
So he is loading the burden onto the general public to decide when they are sick enough to need professional treatment. I predict that people who aren’t really ill will clog up the hospitals while the genuinely sick will stay away – possibly until they are beyond help.
Oh, and
- Schools will not be closed for the moment.
Why not? School pupils are among the most prolific transmitters of illnesses we know.
And what will happen if parents take the decision to keep their kids away? Will they face punishment?
Once again we say a weak figurehead – and a poor excuse for a leader – making confusing and contradictory pronouncements in a bid to look decisive. At what cost to the rest of us in the future?
Source: Coronavirus: PM says everyone should avoid office, pubs and travelling – BBC News
Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
I got a text this afternoon from my doctors surgery telling me not to come to pick up my prescription but to nominate a pharmacy from where I can pick it up instead. Also said do not come into the surgery to make an appointment, only come once you have an appointment. At the same time I got another text from my dentist saying I’m due for a check-up, and when I rang them they said it’s business as normal there.
Avoiding pubs, restaurants and cinemas won’t affect me personally as I haven’t been able to afford to have a social/recreational life for years anyway.
You could see he was being non-committal and purposefully vague as usual, using his “two stoogies” to prop him up when asked questions.
What I find offensive is that as ever, the Tories are preying on our good nature and willingness to help each other to save a few bob, like with foodbanks etc….
“Use that Dunkirk Spirit” – is that fleeing from the enemy and cowering at home ?
Mike a good number of care homes started putting things in place the other week.
No visitors, residents can’t go into the community either (DoLs is an after thought)
Stricter rules than usual on staff (even the higher rated ones, which are strict as is)
A good point about the NHS being run down over the years so that we can’t cope with an unexpected epidemic.
There are a lot of voluntary initiatives springing up at the moment. Trying to help people stuck at home etc.
All well and good (and I see local Tories eagerly joining in to establish their “community spirit”.) but we should be reminding people that a properly funded Welfare State would not need all this volunteering by already over-stretched citizens. We would have proper Social Services available to help the frail and elderly and isolated. We would have properly staffed and equipped hospitals. And we would have a proper Benefits system so that , when someone loses their job at the pub, club, shop or airline, they are able to immediately claim their cash entitlement without having to wait 5 weeks for “Universal Credit” while relying on Foodbanks run by volunteers.
This virus is exposing a society run on a shoestring.
Boris johnson has been dodging things all his life when caught out with his none stop lies . He doesn,t give a toss about anyone other than his rich buddies . Hes a racist a bigot and many more things .
When I was working, the company I worked for would never allow people to work from home (at least not during normal working hours) as they were convinced that people wouldn’t do as much work. I’m guessing that many other companies take a similar line.
But wouldn’t it be self evident whether the work had been done or not?