"I do not see the names of prominent consultants in communicable disease control at the top table...I have a feeling this is a systematic thing [resulting from] top down control." Expert @Doctorshaib tells @afuahirsch & @paulmasonnews on the #Covid ReportšŸ‘‡. #coronavirus #Covid19 https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/1248159311458598913
This claim that top scientists in the field arenā€™t advising the govt is worrying as is the top down nature of the UKā€™s #COVID19 strategy.

Itā€™s led by a @B_I_Tweets behaviourist
whose nudge philosophy is about ā€œhow small changes can make big differences.ā€
https://twitter.com/stefsimanowitz/status/1240591367488897024?s=21 https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1240591367488897024
"We're still making it up as we go along! Our scientific advisory committees are full of behavioural scientists & mathematical modelers. They've failed to bring in the communicable disease experts & public health experts.ā€ @AllysonPollock on govt #COVID19 response. #coronavirus.
ā€œItā€™s a circular argument. The modellers don't include one of the key components of infection control [testing & contract tracing] because of political constraints & then the politicians then say 'we are following the science'" @DeenanDpillay on #COVID19 & scientific illiteracy.
According to @Doctorshaib, the govt should invite a more diverse range of experts around the top table rather than just modellers & academics. This could be done immediately.

Ystdy, CMA denied that post-lockdown modelling only began in mid-March. #COVID19 https://twitter.com/stefsimanowitz/status/1248294463694307330?s=21 https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1248294463694307330
ā€œWe have to manage the outbreaks of #coronavirus in different parts of the country, locally. We need local action teams contact tracing meticulously & ā€˜cordons sanitairesā€™ protecting those populations.ā€ Director of IPH, @AllysonPollock, offering a #Covid19 lockdown exit strategy.
The best exit strategy from lockdown ā€œwould require an unprecedented action by the govt is an aggressive test, trace, isolate strategy, prof @devisridhar tells @krishgm.

She has called it right on #COVID19 from the start & govt shld invite her to advise.
QUESTION TO SCIENTISTS:

Until now, UK govt #COVID19 strategy has been shaped by behavioural scientists & mathematical modellers.

Who else should be invited to what @Doctorshaib calls ā€˜the top tableā€™?

Which virologists & public health experts would help us tackle #coronavirus?
ā€œSo many people have died b/c politicians refused to listen to advice.ā€ Professor Ward, leading UK virologist.

ā€œIf you go hard late, as UK has done, you can just see what carnage you suffer,ā€ Professor Murphy Australiaā€™s Chief Medical Officer. #COVID19
https://twitter.com/profhelenward/status/1249477624361033736?s=21 https://twitter.com/profhelenward/status/1249477624361033736
Boris Johnson says heā€™s ā€œguided by the scienceā€ on coronavirus. The trouble is, no one knows what the science is.

@sarahwollaston ā€œYou canā€™t challenge the advice if other experts canā€™t see what they are looking at.ā€ @martinlan
@_StephenCastle in @nytimes
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/23/world/europe/uk-coronavirus-sage-secret.html
A lot of behaviourists & modellers in SAGE.

Prof Medley (on #herdimmunity) said heā€™d like to ā€œput all the more vulnerable people into the north of Scotland...& everybody else into Kent & have a nice, big epidemic in Kent, so that everyone becomes immuneā€.
Three days ago, @GrahamMedley, the govtā€™s chief pandemic modeller & member of SAGE, tweeted:

ā€œScientists advise, ministers decide.ā€

He also RTed: ā€œIn politics, admitting a mistake is a form of weakness. Itā€™s quite the opposite in science.ā€

Could this be about #HerdImmunity?
ā€œThe scientists give you the facts. It is irresponsible to say this is all the fault of @CMO_England. He did not chose that strategy. His job is to advise the govt. The PMā€™s job is to chose the strategy.ā€

This was @RoryStewartUK.

6 WEEKS AGO! #Covid19
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