Read on Twitter
This is the exact problem with our government's thinking & response- despite this strategy of 'tolerating deaths' and half-way measures having spectacularly failed, it's quite amazing that our govt still hasn't learned anything, & continues to promote a policy of death. Thread https://twitter.com/EstherMcVey1/status/1345446981062316033
Had we adopted an elimination strategy early on, rather than one of tolerating a certain level of infection, we wouldn't be here now. The reason we're here is because the govt never committed to elimination.
We eased lockdown in May when infection levels were much higher than when other countries in Europe did this. The govt was warned about this, but did this to 'help the economy'. Not only did this lead us into the 2nd wave, the need for further lockdowns harmed the economy further
It's very clear from global evidence that we cannot 'tolerate a level of community transmission' and maintain 'R at or just below 1', which has been our governments policy for a long time. This isn't sustainable & very rapidly gets out of control, leading to exponential rises
Coupled with late action to contain these surges, not only does this lead to many more deaths, and much more morbidity with Long COVID, it also creates a fertile ground for viral mutations to accumulate with a greater risk of adaptation, which is exactly what happened in the UK
And Esther McVey's tweet about 200,000 deaths from lockdown. This is absolutely false. We have >80,000 excess deaths in the UK, and it's very clear that the vast majority of these are clearly due to COVID-19.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55411323
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55411323
So the idea that there are a huge number of indirect deaths from lockdowns (and these exceed the deaths from COVID-19) is absolutely false, and it's disappointing to see the govt actively spreading false information, and misinforming the public in the midst of a pandemic.
In fact, what is very clear is that the late action and half-way strategy of govt has left to a very high death toll from COVID-19. The UK has one of the highest mortality rates in the world - 1100/million compared with 0.29/million in Taiwan.
UK policy for COVID-19 has been an utter failure. The fact that the govt is still talking about 'tolerating deaths' is terrifying. When does the govt acknowledge that this isn't working & change course. This destructive ideology has led us here & will cost many more lives.
The new variant & its rapid spread further emphasises the huge risks of this approach. It's clear that the only way forward now is elimination. A policy of half-way measures does not work - and is destructive to our society & our economy. The evidence is clear. Please stop this.
And if you truly want to prevent indirect deaths due to the NHS being overwhelmed, the best way to prevent these is also *control COVID-19*. It should be obvious that an NHS service overwhelmed with COVID cannot provide routine care.
If you're concerned about the NHS, invest in it rather than cutting funding, and enacting policies that have led to huge NHS shortages. If you care about mental health of communities, invest in this. Cuts in mental health services predate COVID-19 & have caused a lot of harm.
If you're worried about the impact of lockdowns, *prevent* these by following an elimination strategy, and basing policies on scientific evidence - which does not support the govts current policies. If you care about impact of lockdown on communities, support them.
Spreading disinformation should violate the ministerial code. We're at a point where MPs in govt are actively spreading disinformation in the midst of a pandemic.
The govt has completely failed us & their continued pursuit of pseudoscience will cost many more lives.
The govt has completely failed us & their continued pursuit of pseudoscience will cost many more lives.
Talking about 'tolerating deaths' at a point where vaccines are available is even more irresponsible. Every single death from COVID-19 is preventable- had the govt thinking reflected this, we would be at a very different point now.
