The failure of the Health Secretary to "guarantee that NHS and social care staff would have enough personal protective equipment" this weekend is hardly surprising, in view of this government`s incompetent and arrogant handling of the crisis (Star,17/04/20), Ignoring the advice of the WHO on testing, and failing to provide basic equipment means that the silence surrounding any plans for easing the lockdown has to be at the very least, worrying. Can we really be expected to believe that there will be sufficient testing and contact tracing in place in three weeks to enable a safe return to work for perhaps a million workers? Of course not, especially when one considers that, although there has been a national lockdown for over three weeks at a time of the country`s greatest health crisis for over a hundred years, thousands of people from all over the world, including virus hotspots, have been entering the country.
A quick look at the Heathrow website reveals that on this Saturday, 18th April, the incoming flights included three from Rome, three from New York, and one from Barcelona, with many from Madrid earlier in the week! We know these passengers were not tested for coronavirus on arrival, and none quarantined! More came from countries where details of the extent of the virus are either limited or dubious.
How many scientists and health experts think the country`s major airport should be open for "business as usual" at this time? Yet the government frequently maintains it is being "guided by the science".
Guided by big business, as usual, and the profit motive, more like!
The 91% support in Britain for the lockdown isn`t that "remarkable", as Jonathan Freedland says, when there is clearly no alternative, other than carrying on as normal and multiplying the already horrendous death-rate (Only a colossal shift of political imagination can end lockdown, 18/04/20). Having sufficient testing and contact tracing facilities in place to enable a safe easing of the restrictions, however, does, indeed, appear extremely "daunting", especially for a government lacking in sufficient competence to deal with such an obvious problem as people still entering the country from all over the world, including virus hotspots.
A quick look at the Heathrow website reveals that on Saturday the incoming flights included three from Rome, three from New York, and one from Barcelona, with many from Madrid earlier in the week! We know these passengers were not tested for coronavirus on arrival, and none quarantined, yet thousands have been arriving throughout the weeks of so-called "national lockdown", including from countries too, where details of the extent of the virus are limited!
The government frequently maintains it is being "guided by the science", but how many scientists can possibly think the country`s major airport should be open for "business as usual" during the country`s worst health crisis for over a hundred years?
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