Read on Twitter
1/111 Thread: I wanted to give them a chance. Surely every government around the world is facing the toughest of challenges & we were no different, but the more I find out about how our Government has dealt with COVID-19 the more I find their ineptitude to be truly staggering.
2/11 And our stark measure of competence, not unlike the competence of a school being indicated by its exam results, is the progress of a horrendous epidemic. Numbers from experts our central players have spent almost four years deriding.
3/11 So daily death toll shoots past Italy and is overtaking Spain, NHS staff dying from of lack of PPE, and ventilator donations from anywhere - Germany, who can afford such an act of charity … even the set of BBC's Holby City. And we've still a week to 'peak'
4/11 A Govt so keen to data-bully hospitals, schools, councils and so many other instruments of state actually does not do well when compared to the COVID-19 metrics of other countries. We've still to peak, which means the nightmare's still a nightmare but it won't get worse.
5/11 A Government that chose:
1. its advisors
2. to ignore WHO
3. to ignore lessons from Italy and elsewhere
4. to let big sporting events with hundreds of thousands of people go ahead, which research evidence indicates facilitated the spread of the disease.
1. its advisors
2. to ignore WHO
3. to ignore lessons from Italy and elsewhere
4. to let big sporting events with hundreds of thousands of people go ahead, which research evidence indicates facilitated the spread of the disease.
6/11 A Government that chose not to:
1. participate in EU meetings to share lessons learned
2. do contact tracing
3. do mass testing
4. join the EU bulk buy program
5. begin lock down in mid-March
And it goes on....
1. participate in EU meetings to share lessons learned
2. do contact tracing
3. do mass testing
4. join the EU bulk buy program
5. begin lock down in mid-March
And it goes on....
7/11 A Government that also chose not to:
6. have stocks of PPE
7. order extra PPE until too late
8. have enough ventilators ready
9. order extra ventilators until too late
Many countries were addressing their PPE and ventilator needs in January.
6. have stocks of PPE
7. order extra PPE until too late
8. have enough ventilators ready
9. order extra ventilators until too late
Many countries were addressing their PPE and ventilator needs in January.
8/11 All of these were Govt decisions. All have been bad ones. The proof of all of this is the death tolls. We are doing worse than almost every other country, a notable exception being the US whose healthcare system is a model so many key Government figures want to emulate.
9/11 There are two articles that are worth reading (I've bookmarked both!) The first is from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) which compares the UK's performance with others - and it's alarming. http://www.healthdata.org/news-release/new-covid-19-forecasts-europe-italy-spain-have-passed-peak-their-epidemics-uk-early-its
10/11 The second is from Reuters and tells how we got to where we are now. Frankly for a country that is still talking about not extending the transition period and leaving with an Australian-style …. er, no deal on the back of this fiasco is terrifying. https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN21P1VF
11/11 After all this gloom and darkness, I thought I'd lighten the mood a little with what I call a quip-pic, a little ironic humour. I don't think 'enjoy' or even 'smile' are the right words to use.....
