Some more info on the new UK strategy:
Benjamin Kentish on Twitter
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And here is the UK Chief Medical Officer outlining the strategy. If you have mild symptoms, stay at home for 7 days. Only seek medical attention if your symptoms progress to serious. Meanwhile at this point, no forced bans on public events or school closures which are seen as counter productive to the central strategy.
Boris Johnson on Twitter
When the UK government says it is modelling for an 80% infection rate, I think we need to take them at their word. Germany are saying similar.
Coronavirus: as many as 10,000 in Britain may already have it, says PM
Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, said that worst-case scenario planning projected that 80% of the country would contract the virus, with a 1% mortality rate. This equates to more than 500,000 deaths.
Speaking at a sombre press conference in Downing Street, the prime minister said measures to tackle “the worst public health crisis for a generation” could “cause severe disruption” to everyday life for months.
“It is going to spread further and I must level with you, I must level with the British public: many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time,” Johnson said, as two more fatalities from Covid-19 brought the death toll in Britain so far to 10.
Dismissing the belief that the virus is comparable to seasonal flu, he added: “Alas that is not right. Due to the lack of immunity, this disease is more dangerous,” with the elderly at particular risk. Entire families could be told to self-isolate if one of them falls ill, and people should start looking after elderly relatives and neighbours, he added.
As a son, husband, father and citizen it saddens me deeply that my prior warnings that were seen by many here as alarmist, are a view now openly shared by the government of the United Kingdom.
As an investor, I am relieved I took the steps I did, both to protect my existing assets and to profit from the slide to provide some extra buffer against likely loss of future income.
Where do markets go from here? There’s a prevalent market view still that this is a short sharp v-shape recession that will not affect 2021 numbers. Maybe that’s right but see my previous post on the unknowables. Even if that is the case, I do not think we are at the bottom yet, until this grim message has been properly absorbed by global society at large. The mood of which after all is what indirectly drives global markets trends outside the short term.
Unless of course the UK govt is totally wrong and it really is “Mission Accomplished” as claimed by China. Let’s hope so.
