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Prompted by a discussion with @PaulbernalUK, some thoughts about the UK Government's #CoronaVirus #COVIDー19 communications:

I now do not know the UK Government's *objective*
The reason the "herd immunity" idea was so sticky in communication terms was that it was at least an objective. You could argue if it ever were the true objective, whether it still is, whether it were the right objective... but it was somehow concrete
It was even in project management terms a SMART objective
- Specific (70+% get it)
- Measurable (test if people have it, or extrapolate from deaths)
- Achievable (virus spreads fast, so yes)
- Realistic (if you assume no re-occurrence, yes)
- Time (2 years)
The problem now is I do not actually know what the UK Government is trying to do, for all it seems to communicate are measures

"protect the over 70s" is not an objective in itself, because there are multiple ways to do that, and no clarity on those
Look at the UK Government's advice page:
gov.uk/government/top…

There is no answer to *why* these measures make sense, and towards what objective the government is working
Also I do wonder if the UK Government is even capable of communicating clearly and consistently, because for the 6 months or so Johnson was in power pre-Corona the intention was the very opposite - briefing and counter briefing, obfuscation, *intended* confusion
When you're communicating about something more abstract in the future - Brexit with the main changes months into the future (Jan 2021 earliest for most people) - you might be able to get away with that
But for a problem that needs action now - do I self-isolate or not? Do I cancel that event or not? Should I meet that elderly relative or not? - there is a high price for mixed messages
In conclusion: until the UK Government can articulate a clear objective in how it is approaching its #Coronavirus #COVIDー19 response, its communication and approach will remain a mess

If you think I'm wrong and the objective is clear, please tell me - with evidence

/ends
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Jon Worth
@jonworth
Eine Frage an @c_drosten und andere #CoronaVirus #covidー19 Experten:

Wir erleben im Moment viele gut gemeinte Angebote für Nachbarschaftshilfen und haben das Gefühl, dass nun die Hälfte aller Leute Besorgungen übernehmen würde, wenn der Bedarf schon größer wäre.
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Jon Worth
@jonworth
A more serious thread on jobs & vacancies (in Berlin, perhaps with wider relevance) and time and #CoronaVirus - started with this post earlier, and responses to that - inc. from @rewe_group

3 🇩🇪 supermarket chains - REWE, Edeka and Netto - are short of staff and need workers:
As @tagesschau also reports, German farmers are worried that with planting season coming, there will not be anyone to do any planting
There is also a practical guide as to *what* to do in Germany from @dwnews here:
dw.com/de/coronavirus…
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Jon Worth
@jonworth
Physical distancing

Yesterday in 🇬🇧, Cardiff
Yesterday in 🇬🇧, Bath
Chances someone in either crowd has got #Coronavirus #COVIDー19? But they don’t know they have?

Are all these people definitely not going to visit their relatives who are over 70?
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Bethany
@bethanyamanda
In the spirit of the Mr. Rogers “look for the helpers” quote, let’s get a thread going of the more beautiful examples of humanity that are emerging from the shitshow of this #coronavirus crisis. Let’s start with a quintessential example: Italians making music from their balconies
The wonders of technology!

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🌊ⒿⒶⓎ🇺🇸ⒷⓇⓄⓌⓃ🗽
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<THREAD> Trump quotes on #coronavirus #COVIDー19 1/13

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Dr. Chris Mackie
@Healthmac
A thread on why I am not panicking about #Coronavirus #COVID-19.
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Abdul El-Sayed
@AbdulElSayed
Want to understand why we're dealing with the scepter of serious #Coronavirus #COVIDー19 outbreaks in the US?

The @realDonaldTrump admin's profound mismanagement.

A Thread:

The public health approach to stopping an infectious disease is about "contact tracing."

1/
Contact tracing is painstaking work. It involves identifying all of the known or potential contacts of someone who has the disease in question, finding them, and then isolating them--and then rinsing and repeating.

It's a serious test of your gov's abilities.

2/
It requires that:

1) Gov't is funded appropriately to do this work
2) Gov't employees trust higher-ups to give them bad news, rather than pretend that cases don't exist.
3) Ppl trust their gov't to protect them--and to share information with them

3/
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