Hancock: Follow Covid rules or they will get tougher

[T_i_B]

We've reached the stage where everyone is blaming each other for the ongoing march of Coronavirus.

A second lockdown might be extremely unwelcome, but it may already be inevitable.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54221953

Covid restrictions in England will get tougher if rules are not followed, Matt Hancock has warned, as the government introduces £10,000 fines for people who fail to self-isolate.

The health secretary told the BBC's Andrew Marr show the country was facing a "tipping point and we have a choice".

"If everybody follows the rules then we can avoid further national lockdown."

The prime minister is understood to be considering a ban on households mixing, and reducing opening hours for pubs. The move under consideration by PM Boris Johnson could take the form of a two-week mini lockdown in England - being referred to as a "circuit breaker" - in an aim to stem a recent surge in cases.

[Denzil_DC]

1. A nationwide lockdown would, at best, buy time.

It may be inevitable.

It might be worth it if there was any sense that Hancock et al. would put the time to good use to improve track and trace and make tests and their processing more widely available etc.

I have no confidence that would be the case.

We seem to have found ourselves a far cry from only a week or two ago, when everyone who wasn't keen on commuting to a city-centre office for work was a wastrel and scrounger.

[T_i_B]

2. A second surge has always been on the cards

It's been happening everywhere else as well.

However, the current state of Coronavirus testing is a serious concern. And the decision to give Dido Harding a top role in this is looking worse and worse by the day. I don't care how well connected she is, her track record before this wasn't great and we really need actual experts to sort things out.