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> There are almost no drawback to the health system by introducing strict measures sooner rather than later. Studies supporting stuff like lockdown or containme

> There are almost no drawback to the health system by introducing strict measures sooner rather than later. Studies supporting stuff like lockdown or containment fatigue is also sorely lacking. Basing our epidemic response on this is completely bonkers. Anecdote: I'm in Singapore, which was one of the first countries hit by the virus. People are getting complacent from how well our government seems to be handling the virus. I wouldn't say that places are as crowded as before (since we've been introducing gradual travel restrictions), but our public areas are still pretty packed, and people are still going out and mingling despite government advice on social distancing. The government knows this, and has announced that they will introduce measures over a staggered period to slow down transmission [1]. [1] https://www.gov.sg/article/pm-lee-hsien-loong-on-the-covid-19-situation-in-singapore-12-mar https://www.gov.sg/article/pm-lee-hsien-loong-on-the-covid-1... — "They will be extra 'brakes', to be implemented when we see a spike in cases. The extra brakes will slow down transmission of the virus, prevent our healthcare system from being overwhelmed, and help bring the numbers back down."

starfallg 7y ago
I take your point. I'm not disputing the existence of fatigue, but rather on whether we know enough about it to quantify it and to use it as our guiding principle for epidemic response. And I think the the Singapore approach here is the right way - additional measure can be taken in order to shore up public behaviour as people's behaviour start to revert. In any case the UK public by-and-large is behaving much less seriously than Singapore. Having just been back from Asia on a trip and working from home as a result, I still have people asking me as of a few days ago whether all of this talk in the news is an overreaction.

starfallg 7y ago

I take your point. I'm not disputing the existence of fatigue, but rather on whether we know enough about it to quantify it and to use it as our guiding principle for epidemic response. And I think the the Singapore approach here is the right way - additional measure can be taken in order to shore up public behaviour as people's behaviour start to revert. In any case the UK public by-and-large is behaving much less seriously than Singapore. Having just been back from Asia on a trip and working from home as a result, I still have people asking me as of a few days ago whether all of this talk in the news is an overreaction.