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Scientists call for public inquiry to prepare UK for ‘probable’ second wave View 3 comments Faye Brown Saturday 6 Jun 2020 10:44 am
Scientists say the government needs to improve its response to the pandemic to prepare for a second wave.
Leading medics and scientists are calling on the government to hold an urgent public inquiry to prepare Britain for a ‘probable’ second wave of coronavirus in winter. In a letter to The Guardian, 27 experts have warned that many more people may die if the country does not improve its response if another outbreak hits. Signatories said there was an urgent need to fix shortcomings that have led to the UK suffering the second highest death toll in the world. They said the number of people dying has been high despite ‘strenuous efforts by health professionals and scientists inside and outside government … with the poor and certain minority ethnic groups affected especially badly’. The experts listed the problems that need addressing as ‘the fragmentation of the NHS, public health and social care in England; the failure of those in Westminster to engage with local government and devolved nations; the channels by which scientific evidence feeds into policy; and an inability to plan for the necessary goods and services and procure them. ‘
The letter said: ‘We call on all political parties to commit to a rapid, transparent, expert inquiry to address these issues. ‘This must avoid diverting the efforts of those responding to the crisis or apportioning blame but should propose feasible ways to overcome the obstacles faced by those on the front line of the response and help them to save lives.’ There have been repeated calls for the government to hold a public inquiry into its handling of the coronavirus crisis. Ministers have conceded there will be a time for ‘lessons to be learned’ after the crisis is over but they have stopped short of committing to a public inquiry. However, the experts in their letter made clear that they believe such an exercise is necessary now, so that the response can be improved if the virus reemerges later this year. There is growing uneasiness that lockdown is being lifted too soon.
The onset of the outbreak saw frontline staff grapple with life-threatening PPE shortages, while the country’s testing capacity lagged well behind other nations and targets were frequently missed. The country went into lockdown weeks after surrounding European nations, despite warnings from Italy and Spain – the then epicentres of the virus- about the horrors that were to come. Boris Johnson allegedly told the Italian prime minister that he was seeking a ‘herd immunity’ strategy in the UK. He spoke to Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on March 13th – 10 days before lockdown was announced – according to a Dispatches investigation.
The documentary heard from Health analyst George Batchelor, who estimated that, had the lockdown been enforced 11 days earlier, 13,000 deaths could have been avoided. The UK’s death toll has now topped 50,000 – more than twice the total that his chief scientific adviser said would be a ‘good result’. Boris Johnson 'told Italian PM he wanted herd immunity' On the same day those figures came to light, Boris Johnson insisted that he was ‘very proud’ of the government’s record on reducing the spread of the virus. The government’s difficulties have been compounded in recent weeks by the Dominic Cummings scandal. Scientists have expressed further unease over the speed at which the government is unwinding the lockdown in England while the infection threat level remains at 4 – meaning cases of the virus are still high or rising exponentially. Yesterday it emerged the ‘R’ rate – the rate the virus reproduces, has risen above one in the North West and to one in the South West. Previously ministers have said they will move towards ‘local lockdowns’ to deal with any regional outbreaks and the use of tracking and tracing should the spread start to increase again, but the national tracing system is not yet fully operational and plans for localised action have not yet been finalised.
Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2020/06/06/scie...tifcation-small&utm_source=pushly?ito=cbshare
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/
Scientists say the government needs to improve its response to the pandemic to prepare for a second wave.
Leading medics and scientists are calling on the government to hold an urgent public inquiry to prepare Britain for a ‘probable’ second wave of coronavirus in winter. In a letter to The Guardian, 27 experts have warned that many more people may die if the country does not improve its response if another outbreak hits. Signatories said there was an urgent need to fix shortcomings that have led to the UK suffering the second highest death toll in the world. They said the number of people dying has been high despite ‘strenuous efforts by health professionals and scientists inside and outside government … with the poor and certain minority ethnic groups affected especially badly’. The experts listed the problems that need addressing as ‘the fragmentation of the NHS, public health and social care in England; the failure of those in Westminster to engage with local government and devolved nations; the channels by which scientific evidence feeds into policy; and an inability to plan for the necessary goods and services and procure them. ‘
The letter said: ‘We call on all political parties to commit to a rapid, transparent, expert inquiry to address these issues. ‘This must avoid diverting the efforts of those responding to the crisis or apportioning blame but should propose feasible ways to overcome the obstacles faced by those on the front line of the response and help them to save lives.’ There have been repeated calls for the government to hold a public inquiry into its handling of the coronavirus crisis. Ministers have conceded there will be a time for ‘lessons to be learned’ after the crisis is over but they have stopped short of committing to a public inquiry. However, the experts in their letter made clear that they believe such an exercise is necessary now, so that the response can be improved if the virus reemerges later this year. There is growing uneasiness that lockdown is being lifted too soon.
The onset of the outbreak saw frontline staff grapple with life-threatening PPE shortages, while the country’s testing capacity lagged well behind other nations and targets were frequently missed. The country went into lockdown weeks after surrounding European nations, despite warnings from Italy and Spain – the then epicentres of the virus- about the horrors that were to come. Boris Johnson allegedly told the Italian prime minister that he was seeking a ‘herd immunity’ strategy in the UK. He spoke to Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on March 13th – 10 days before lockdown was announced – according to a Dispatches investigation.
The documentary heard from Health analyst George Batchelor, who estimated that, had the lockdown been enforced 11 days earlier, 13,000 deaths could have been avoided. The UK’s death toll has now topped 50,000 – more than twice the total that his chief scientific adviser said would be a ‘good result’. Boris Johnson 'told Italian PM he wanted herd immunity' On the same day those figures came to light, Boris Johnson insisted that he was ‘very proud’ of the government’s record on reducing the spread of the virus. The government’s difficulties have been compounded in recent weeks by the Dominic Cummings scandal. Scientists have expressed further unease over the speed at which the government is unwinding the lockdown in England while the infection threat level remains at 4 – meaning cases of the virus are still high or rising exponentially. Yesterday it emerged the ‘R’ rate – the rate the virus reproduces, has risen above one in the North West and to one in the South West. Previously ministers have said they will move towards ‘local lockdowns’ to deal with any regional outbreaks and the use of tracking and tracing should the spread start to increase again, but the national tracing system is not yet fully operational and plans for localised action have not yet been finalised.
Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2020/06/06/scie...tifcation-small&utm_source=pushly?ito=cbshare
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/
