ARCHIVE 8 Oct 2020: Covid and restrictions on pubs

Includes thoughts on test & trace, ventilation & communication

THREAD: My thoughts on pubs FWIW.

At current growth, covid hospital admissions in North of England less than a week away from levels London had on lockdown day in March (per population)

Covid loves us socialising indoors (pubs & homes) and laughing, chatting over a table for hours... I think right now closing indoor pub service in hard hit areas & restricting household mixing is right thing to do BUT we need to work immediately on plan to reopen inc

Fixing test & trace (e.g. in England, currently works least well where needed most). This inc supporting isolation - financially (£500/2 wks less than minimum wage!), practically (caring responsibilities, grocery, accommodation...) (govt SAGE said same bit.ly/2SBpfKP)

Launching a big effort to improve ventilation in homes (particularly poor quality housing) *and* pubs, bars, restaurants, schools & uni accommodation - with funding! Inc better regulation of businesses.

clear, regular communication. UK govt needs to start daily press briefings again - why haven't they? things changing so quickly we need these back! and to hear a clear strategy for getting *out* of restrictions (getting out of restrictions is v possible!)

We need all of it (& all of us) to work together - restrictions without support & targeted improvements (eg housing, ventilation etc) will do little. We need generous support for hospitality industry while we get cases down - god knows, we're going to need a drink when it's over.