BLAME MOVING AS FAST AS VIRUS

THE game of blame has begun. And the sound is deafening.

No one disputes the 12,526 Covid-19 deaths of care home residents between March 2 and May 1 is a devastating tragedy.

But no one takes responsibility for those thrown to the wolves.

It was April 15 before hospital patients finally had to be tested ahead of transfer to care homes.

Four weeks earlier, on March 19, hospitals were ordered to discharge 15,000 patients within a week who were not tested.

Who’s to blame? Not us, said Chris Hopson of Nhsproviders, which represents NHS trusts.

He said: “It is categorically not true NHS trusts have been systematically discharging patients they know or suspected had Covid-19 into care homes.

“The scandal is the repeated failure of politicians to solve our social care crisis.”

On February 25 Public Health England said there was no community transmission and it was “very unlikely” people in care will be infected.

On March 5 chief medical officer Chris Whitty announced transmission was “highly likely”. Who should cop the blame?

Not us, says PHE’S Professor Paul Johnstone. He said: “The guidance in February was related to what we knew at the time, and was updated in March.”

Yet on February 10 the UK’S Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling committee had warned of the “realistic probability” already of “sustained transmission.”

So is anyone to blame? Not me, says Boris Johnson, who said on May 6 he “bitterly regrets” what happened but claimed “palpable improvement in recent days”.

Shadow Social Care minister Liz Kendall said: “The Government has been too slow.

“It’s own Covid-19 recovery strategy can’t even guarantee every care home for over-65s will be offered tests until June 6.”