Coronavirus blockade: allowing family reunions in England ‘complicated’

Allowing family gatherings is a “major public health problem,” said England’s deputy chief medical officer, but it is “difficult” to make the rules fair.

Dr. Jenny Harries said such a move could provide a “mental health boost.”

But she said that if two big families wanted to get together “you actually end up with a pretty big meeting.”

Some blockade measures have been eased in England, but restrictions on how many people you can meet remain in place.

Two people from different homes can meet in outdoor settings, such as parks, as long as they stay more than two meters away.

But any larger gathering between different households at the same time is currently prohibited. The UK government has said that this means that someone cannot see both parents at the same time.

In daily briefing # 10 above, Dr. Harries was asked if this could be expanded to allow different households to be known as “bubbles” or “groups.”

She said such a move would be particularly beneficial to those “who have been alone or isolated from others.”

But he added that any such step should be “fair” and “consistent with public health councils.”

“So, for example, if you have families with a large number of people in their families who want to get together, you effectively end up with a fairly large meeting, even if it’s just two families together.”

“I think it’s really important that we think about the implications of that, particularly among families in different circumstances. If your family is far away, for example, you may be less able to do it.”

Understandably getting together with family is something we miss a lot.

The government has tried to offer some flexibility in England by allowing people to gather outside in two, where the risk of infection is low due to the ability to keep one’s distance and the fact that it is outdoors.

But of course, that’s not the same as inviting people to lunch on Sunday or visiting family for a weekend.

The problem facing the government and its advisers is that the risk posed by the coronavirus differs greatly depending on whether you are the grandfather or grandson.

The average 80-year-old person has a probability of almost one in 10 of dying if they are infected, while for children the risk is practically zero.

It’s not just about individual risk, either. An increase in infections among older people would overwhelm the health service. About a quarter of infected people over 70 need hospital treatment.

Family reunions, involving multiple generations, where people are very close, are simply too dangerous until we know more about the virus and who, particularly among older generations, and younger people with health problems, are at higher risk.

Meanwhile, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick defended the government’s decision to allow potential home buyers to view properties in England. The property markets in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland remain closed.

Speaking at the briefing Wednesday, he said he had been asked why the government would allow people “to look around a stranger’s home but not visit loved ones or parents.”

Jenrick said he understood “why this may seem confusing at first glance,” but said real estate agents should follow new guidelines during visits. These include:

• Views should happen first “virtually”
• Physical visits by appointment only: no doors open
• Speculative views are “highly discouraged”
• All internal doors should be opened whenever possible.
• The current occupant must leave the building during observation, for example, standing in the garden.
• Wash hands when entering property
• And all surfaces, including door handles, must be “thoroughly cleaned” after

Media playback is not supported on your device

There are an estimated 450,000 buyers and tenants with plans on hold.

The property website Zoopla previously calculated that some 373,000 property sales had been suspended during the shutdown, with a total value of £ 82 billion.

Jenrick added that it was “essential that we cautiously open up parts of our economy where it is safe to do so.”

His call came when the number of people who died after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK reached 33,186, an increase from 494 the day before.

In other developments:

• Ministers are looking for ways to allow private prayer in places of worship before the buildings fully open on July 4 “at the earliest”
• Construction site opening hours will be extended; It will remain open until 9:00 p.m. BST, Monday through Saturday, subject to approval by the local authority, Jenrick said.
• The government is working “very closely with our main cultural institutions” to see how they could reopen with the established social distancing.
• The government again lost its daily target of 100,000 coronavirus tests, with 87,063 tests on Tuesday.
• The prime minister has been accused of misleading parliamentarians by the housekeeping council at the start of the infection control pandemic
• Up to 8,000 jobs are at risk at travel company Tui as it pledges to “reinvent vacations in 2020” amid the pandemic
• Teachers unions have warned that schools do not have adequate security measures to reopen, after the government told them to prepare to open more children starting June 1.
• The Salaried Transportation Staff Association urges the government to extend the coronavirus compensation scheme for the NHS and coronavirus care workers to transportation workers. It comes after ticket officer Belly Mujinga died of the virus after being spit on by a member of the public who claimed to have Covid-19.
• A three-day-old baby died in Swansea hospital after his mother tested positive for coronavirus, an investigation was reported to have opened.