Stopping the pandemic wildfire at the border

In Politics home yesterday:

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has told the Covid inquiry there was a shared “assumption” across Western Europe that the only way to deal with a future pandemic was to let it rip through the population like “wildfire”.

https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/covid-inquiry-jeremy-hunt-government-planned-pandemic-spread-like-wildfire

There are reports but unconfirmed, that the Scottish Government, strongly advised to do so by Prof Sridhar, did not share that view and wished to lockdown earlier.

More solid evidence of a better strategy in Scotland can be seen in this:

Boris Johnson has been accused of following Nicola Sturgeon’s lead on coronavirus lockdowns after he put England under one hours after his Scottish counterpart did. England entered its third national lockdown on Monday evening which saw schools shut and the toughest restrictions imposed since March following a recent, steep rise in coronavirus cases.

Johnson ordered people to stay home unless they are visiting essential shops, getting exercise, or seeking shelter from domestic abuse or looking for medical attention. The prime minister’s announcement followed Sturgeon’s, which saw Scotland enter a legally-binding lockdown until February – the same month England hopes to ease its own restrictions and open up educational facilities.

This has resulted in a number of Twitter users accusing Johnson of following Sturgeon’s lead after he trailed her in a number of key decisions. Derek James tweeted: “So, when did #BorisJohnson decide another lockdown was necessary? My bet is it was when he saw #NicolaSturgeon announce Scotland was locking down and realised he was again behind the curve. Especially when she said she locked down now because she saw what was happening in London!”

https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news-westminster-news-boris-johnson-england-covid-lockdown-ridiculed-6883844/

In this:

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The above graph revealing starkly the cost in lives of the failure in England to fully implement the JCVI guidance and vaccinate care home residents before all other groups was compiled by Na Sirf Musiqi https://twitter.com/nasirfmusiqi from official sources.

It’s a story never told on MSM. It’s a far greater sin than wasting money on wallpaper.

This shows the impact of the vaccinations as the began to confer immunity on many in Scottish care homes from the middle of January 2021:

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And in this:

In the last 7 days, prior to 15 December 2022, there were 15 deaths in Scotland, within 28 days of a positive test (30 fewer than in the previous week) and a cumulative total thus of 12 389.

In England with 10 times the population, there were 402 deaths (only 18 fewer than previous week), 2.7 times as many pro rata and cumulative total of 173 821, 40% higher than the Scottish figure, pro rata.

Why are there still, and have there been so many fewer deaths in Scotland? Better hospitals, more nurses and doctors, more beds, better government….?

13 thoughts on “Stopping the pandemic wildfire at the border”

  1. Jeremy Hunt , put in charge of England’s NHS for years to run it down and ease the transition to privatisation . Like Dracula put in charge of the Blood Bank !

    He bears a heavy responsibility for the dire state of England’s hospitals when the pandemic hit .
    But , like Cameron , Osborne , Johnson et al , will claim another big boy did it and ran away , while he and his chums scoop up millions in public monies in their various extra-curricular jobs .

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    1. The lack of preparedness was built in long before Jeremy Rhyming-Slang began wrecking the NHS.
      eg – The Epidemic stockpile was seen as an expense they could put off until they actually needed it – and look how well that worked out.

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  3. The “herd-immunity” strategy appealed to the Tories as it was cheap, only when the projected death-toll was thrust in front of them was there an “Ah..” moment, by which time the fire had already started.

    Only when SG set up it’s own specialist advisory panel did the truth begin to dawn on willing ears (the fundamental difference to Eton education) and the strategy began to slightly diverge from WM but proved crucial.

    I noticed at the start of the UK Covid Inquiry, several articles in the media asserting SG’s emergency stockpile of PPE was as bad as in England etc., provable lies and distortions but ONLY for public consumption.
    Given that the Inquiry will be delving into facts, I suggest we’re going to hear much more re-writing of history in the media to influence the public long before the Inquiry delivers it’s damning findings.

    None will escape criticism, but the Tories are toast.

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    1. The PPE stockpile pre-pandemic was described as the ‘National PPE Stock’ which suggests it was for the whole UK and would be distributed accordingly.
      It was at one point stored in an old warehouse which did not have electricity so generators were required in order to keep the PPE at the correct temperature. The warehouse contained asbestos and part of it had been damaged by fire. The stock was eventually transferred to a purpose built warehouse.

      Shortly before the pandemic started responsibility for the storage of the PPE was given to an American company.

      Much of the stock was out of date but new labels were attached so that it was ‘in date’s. Victoria McDonald of CH4 news did a series of reports on the PPE stockpile.

      Eventually the SG set up it’s own supply using local/UK companies about 100 in all if I remember correctly. I think the final straw for the SG was the UKGov limiting the supply of PPE for care homes to care homes registered with the Care Commission which only operates in England.

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      2. It was realisation of just how much deep shit the Tories had dropped all and sundry in that compelled SG to take the initiative.

        eg – You may recall the infamous ventilator saga with Dyson featuring prominently
        – The reason for the shortage in the first place was England’s stockpile had previously been flogged off on the cheap to the Philippines or Malasia complete with the entire emergency plan developed for the UK – IIRC Dr John Campbell was involved in explaining it all and training the recipients on the ground, and crucially it had a massive impact once Covid struck.
        – Did you hear of any a shortage of ventilators from SG or Scotland’s NHS ? Was Dyson invited to assist anywhere else in or outside Europe as the world was swept with Covid ? Nope.

        The problem with the Tories is their concepts of risk are on business, it’s all about the money, profit, the scam – Pandemics are a catastrophe for the populace, the very reason the “National stockpile” and emergency strategy were developed in the first place.
        The Tories knew full well when everybody else was seeking PPE it would become unobtanium, hence the Baroness Mone et al ‘sting’.

        “Let the bodies pile high but I made a mint out of it..” should be inscribed on the gravestone of every Tory and Labour MP and MSP in Scotland – The Labour attribution is because Lives lost are NOT “just politics”

        Sorry for the long rant…

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        1. Don’t apologise for ranting, the points are valid and it is worth reminding ourselves just how vile these people were/are as are their apologisers in the press and broadcast media.

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  4. Remember the old adage that X ”had a good war ” , usually referring to being mentioned in dispatches or other meritorious action .

    Now we have the V I Ps who ” had a good Covid ” – like Baroness Mone and other b*stards !

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  5. Johnson followed Ms Sturgeon’s lead with regards to slowing the spread of Covid-19 right from the start.

    On March 12th 2020 Ms Sturgeon announced that as from 16th March all large gatherings of 500 people or more would be banned. Several had already been cancelled at the time she made the announcement eg the Rangers Celtic game on the weekend of 14th March..

    Of course Johnson went straight into political point-scoring mode when she made the announcement rubbishing the decision and presenting it as evidence of SG failure in its stewardship of the NHSS and Police. Then a few days later Johnson followed suit with a similar announcement to be quickly followed by full lockdown on 23rd March 2020.

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    1. Correct – The source information for the decision to lock down was exactly the same.
      – Sturgeon and SG reacting so quickly (wisely in my opinion) will have been seen by Johnson through the prism of ego and WM politics rather than public well-being, hence his setting the media attack dogs on SG thereafter.

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  6. I will never buy another Dyson product.
    However, let’s have a shout out for Nick Grey (GTech), who sat down with his team and designed a ventilator that could be built from easily available parts then put the design online for free.
    There’s good people out there.

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