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Seems to me that the UK approach is somewhat maverick - and potentially - quite clever. Of course, this could massively backfire. I get the impression (and I haven't read up massively on this, limiting my knowledge to news broadcasts), that the government want us to get ill. But in a controlled way, so that by the beginning of summer when this pandemic is expected to reach its peak, a lot of people will already have some form of natural immunity to the worst of it and the NHS are in a better position to cope. If we go full shut down now, the panic and fear will be diluted by the time things are worse and/or the damage to the economy will be far worse. Not saying that a price has been put on our heads in terms of the economic outcome to the country, but it wouldn't surprise me. And with so many companies and organisations putting their own measures in place, a controlled slow down of spreading a virus we can't stop could be the best approach, especially if those most at risk take more precautions. Granted, I have next to no faith in Boris, but there is something reassuring about the words from Chris Whitty.

Mmmmm I'm no apologist for China, but a) what makes bats or rats any worse than pigs or chickens or pheasants, other than culture, and b) I'm not sure that any British person is in a position to criticise any other country over the exploitation of countries across the African or Indian sub continents.

In all seriousness (yes, rare on here I know), we all know something pretty bad is happening and I wish all fellow reds and their families good fortune over the next few weeks. Actually, that applies to everyone but especially to our fellow cidereds. Stay safe people. Here' a dilemma. If you're middle aged, you're a lot more resilient than your parents so could carry the virus without being too bad. Are we supposed to refrain from physically visiting the older generation who wouldn't be as resilient just in case we, inadvertently, pass it on to them? Tough times.

At least we'll make it through March unbeaten.

That's cruel. Imagine not only having coronavirus but then also being forced to watch City at home.

I love the way that this thread has brought the beautiful spirit of this forum to rise to the top, and forget our petty squabbles, to promote a feeling of love, help, and total support for all humanity.

These really are extraordinary times. Sounds silly to say it but the suspension of football is weirdly unsettling. Nothing feels normal at the moment. Football is such a part of the fabric of our society, what on Earth are we going to talk about?!

Hull City are the latest club to donate food ordered for matchday following the suspension of games, with Aston Villa confirming 850 staff packed lunches are being donated to support homeless charities. “With food having already been delivered to the Kcom Stadium for tomorrow’s game, the club was keen to ensure it didn’t go to waste,” read a club statement. “Fresh fruit, vegetables and sandwiches have now been passed over to FareShare Hull & Humber, a charity that redistributes surplus food to over 120 organisations throughout the region. The club are pleased that this surplus food will go to people who really need it. ???

Football on a nice summer evening followed by a few on north street sounds like perfection to me!

An actual suggestion... Re start next season with the current points and goal difference etc. Not ideal but given the circumstances at least it's fair and doesn't write off the good work done so far. There will be winners and losers but if the projected numbers are even remotely accurate, football is not the priority.

At temple meads this morning, there was a group of lads heading to Cheltenham. They were passing round the hand sanitiser and cleaning their hands.....and then passing round a bottle of lager (Corona, no less!) and sharing it! ?

Is the racing at Cheltenham still going ahead? I appreciate they’ve already had a few days of tens of thousands rolling around having a great time but it’s a bit odd that the ‘Sport of Kings’ gets the go ahead yet football in the same town gets cancelled.

All good points. I likened it to the first day of a Test match when you're trying to gauge how good the light is and whether the players should go off or stay on. You need to keep it safe and sensible, but if you call it quits too early you set a low bar for the rest of the match. You then risk having to keep the players off when the light isn't actually that bad and causing future problems. What I'm trying to say, with that admittedly terrible analogy, is if we go into lockdown at the current rate of cases we may have to remain in that state for months on end. That'll lead to businesses going bust, to unemployment, to homelessness etc. That sounds extreme but it's what we're faced with further down the line if we just pull the trigger straight away. I'm by no means suggesting I know what is right and wrong, but I don't think it's as cut and dried as many suggest in terms of just going into some kind of immediate lockdown.

If this season gets wiped from the history books, we could have another 125th anniversary, with a less shit kit and retired players not being shoved in a corner. Positive!

On the contrary, I think this is their exact strategy. Rather than take draconian measures themselves now, they 'nudge' decision makers to take it out of the government's hands for the greater good, and the rest of society takes that on board in their future decision making. There's an interesting article on the behavioural psychology behind it here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-11/keep-calm-and-wash-your-hands-britain-s-strategy-to-beat-virus Let's just hope they're right.

The cynic that I am suspects that once the valuable assets (players and Managers) start reporting they have the virus, they panic more than if it's just us fans who are expendable.

I have a feeling that if the EFL /PL take this action today , I feel the government will take a similar approach in a very short period of time

= sorry, Wong number.

Maybe not that per se, but who knows....but certainly if we had a better funded nhs, there might be different options available to us. Interesting that the government seem to be relying a lot on behavioural science as opposed to relying on medical science to plan their strategy. I feel it is fine to be worried about our government’s strategy, when other countries are taking a very different approach. Feel free to disagree.

The election tells you that while the government have been utter shits for a decade, the populous are quite happy with that. That's why I've given up on people. I've a few friends and that's enough until I croak it. The rest?... Meh.

That has got to be quite worrying for Rovers "security" team surely? Monday 23rd March they could find half their "stands" have disappeared as the fairground people thought they were part of the fair and just packed them up with the rest of their stuff by mistake.

Apparently six Bristol Rovers players have tested Positive for Covid-19. A spokesman said ‘it's the most positive results we've had since the new manager came in’.

Yet again, we can't break into the top 6...

This strategy has Cummings' fingerprints all over it, it's exactly his sort of thinking. If it works it'll be a masterstroke, if it doesn't who knows how many additional people will die. The decision will make or break Johnson's administration in its first year.

Page 1 is nothing. Some were still at it on page 13.

You do realise football existed in this country before 1992, right.....?

We have a 'Ewing'.

Benik Afobe has more time to recover, every cloud....

Firstly Robbored, this is not aimed at you personally. If your age is what I think it is, over 70?, you should already be considering what you do now. And for those under 60,, please consider all like me because, while you may have a few days off work and make a full recovery, in the early stages of your illness, you will be lethal to the elderly. You may be in good health for your age as I am. No respiratory problems like asthma, blood pressure normal, not diabetic and so on. Able to walk three or four miles without feeling any discomfort at all. I can you run up the stairs to my seat in Ashton Gate in row 25 without collapsing in a heap. In July I will have completed 77 years, which means that I am going to suffer this virus much more than if I was 40 or 50. My wife, 69 years, is asthmatic, and she was told this week that this is not considered as "underlying health problems". But I've seen her suffering badly with only a heavy cold. So if I catch it, I am almost certain to pass it on to her. Without being morbid, we could both be dead in next six to eight weeks. We are not in total isolation but are not taking part in our normal things like table tennis, line dancing, swimming, craft classes, football and rugby. We are now shopping early am and late pm in supermarkets when the place is not jammed with people. Using small local shops instead. and even not stopping for a friendly conversation with everyone we meet while dog walking. We may be over-reacting. But a more cautious approach to our live style for the next few months is a small price to pay to extend our stay on this planet for a while longer. I have just renewed my ST. Can my descendants get a refund if I pop my clogs?

Not having a go, but we have been advised to do things differently already, e.g. wash hands, self isolate for 7 days if cough or high temp, etc. The problem arises when you follow that advice (good on you), go to football, and the guy you sit next to, thinks he knows better and has an “I’ll be alright jack” attitude.

Mine just used car keys and a glass bowl like normal folk.

I have heard the suggestion that matches should be played behind closed doors and televised live on public service TV. But surely, it will be more profitable to state that spectators can only attend matches if they HAVE coronavirus. As they have nothing to lose as they already have it. The matches can then be broadcast live to those who don't have it, then we can all see who has it and stay the F away from them.

If Tuesday's game is on I'll be there, if it's not I may well give it a miss

Very worst case which won’t happen. World wide there’s been 125,000 people diagnosed , as of yesterday . So how we will get 500,000 dead in this country alone is ridiculous.

You're right, everyone should start to adapt their behaviour right now; not because of an order from the government, but from a sense of responsibility to everyone, and particularly the most vulnerable in our society.

So everybody who agrees with this comment put your hand up. Good, lots of us. Now, hands up if you voted Labour in the 2019 election... Ah, not so many of you. Something doesn't quite add up then. What is it we are after ?

That’s what happens when you eat bats and rats. Rather than push their agenda of extracting valuable minerals from African countries where they build roads and railways etc as a way to get covert information, they should put the effort in to producing proper food for their overpopulated country.

Tom Hanks as Tom Hanks?

Michael Vaughan as Arteta

Senseless. Just cancel all sport ffs.

I can't see this online... Are you telling us Arteta lives in Thornbury? Must live in one of the new builds....

Sorry missed your question last week, I can't really say, but sadly it has played out like that. Schools will close on Friday 20th March and then life in Britain will look radically different for everyone. Sport, Glastonbury etc will not happen.

Things moving v quickly now. A couple of days ago, I did not think it possible that season would be cancelled. Think it’s quite likely now that City have played their last competitive game until August. Expect Euros to go too. Medical situation worrying, obviously but, without losing perspective, it’s the economic situation that is really terrifying. V few small to medium size retailers, pubs, restaurants or other leisure businesses will survive this without massive government intervention. Footfall in London already down 27%, in Newcastle it’s 47%.

It seems to be absolutely everywhere. The only shred of positivity I can muster - if there really are thousands of undiagnosed folk, yet the deaths are accurate, the death rate may be closer to 0.1%, rather than 1 to 2 %.

If some of you feel that strongly about this virus and want to blame the government for not acting what exactly do you want them to do? it's possible to be responsible for your own actions, personally I think they are trying to strike a balance between respecting our personal freedom and not trying to scare the living daylights out of people, I live with someone who is in great danger from this, I wont go into detail but believe me if she gets it she probably wouldn't survive it, all this scare talk will only make things worse look after yourself in any way you can but don't let it rule your life, at the moment the chances of getting the virus are still very small let's hope it turns out to be much less of a threat than some on here are making it out to be.

Not particularly a fan of this government (that’s probably an understatement) but they seem to be acting on medical and scientific experts advice about the right time to make certain decisions. listening to them earlier it seemed to make sense, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for now and hope their plan is the right one.

Yes, plenty of very naive people on this thread. Just look at page 1 to 5 and you'll see how utterly wet behind the ears a number of people are. The evidence was out there a long time ago.

The government are expecting many thousands of extra deaths a week at the peak of the pandemic, and arrangements are being made for crematoria to run 24/7. It seems a fair description to me. People need to understand what's coming.

For me, the approach in the UK is primarily about lessening the impact on the NHS. If only it wasn’t so underfunded in the first place.