[alancalverd (OP)]

Assuming that COVID remains a significant disruptor of daily life for the next 6 months, would this suggestion find any favour?

Starting now, government prepares for a full national quarantine period beginning on Christmas Eve. Don't call it "lockdown" because that sounds like a punishment: it's a cure.

Starting today, we build national stocks of basic food and hygiene supplies. No different from provisioning a ship for a month at sea, except we have enough to deliver 4 x 1 week packages to everyone. Actually it's easier than provisioning a ship as we can assume that everyone has access to clean water, so no limit on dehydrated foodstuffs.

On 18 December we begin distributing the first week's packages with a "do not open before 24 December" label. Remote locations will get a whole month's supply but most of the mainland will get 4 deliveries on the same day each week. Not a big deal as the Post Office and courier services will be shifting a lot of packages anyway.

From midnight on 24 Dec there is a compulsory prohibition on all but essential travel for 2 weeks. Essential means only those services and personnel previously identified as such, patients needing urgent treatment, and corpses. All retail and high street trading is closed. Included in essential services is a door-to-door COVID testing program for everyone. No need for tracing as nobody is going anywhere. There being nobody in the streets apart from emergency services, we should have enough police manpower to help with testing. On 7 January those households with a clean bill of health are released and all others remain under curfew until 28 January. 

Given 6 months notice and the experience of the current shambles, people should be able to cope with staying at home during what is mostly a holiday period anyway, and everyone gets the "clarity" that seems to be the current watchword. There being negligible business or holiday travel, hotels can accommodate the homeless and anyone arriving from overseas, and gear up for providing compulsory 2 week quarantine for all arriving passengers until further notice.