It’s the point of no return
NATION’S HEALTH ON THE LINE
AFTER everything we have gone through over the past few months, we’ve arrived at the most dangerous moment of this pandemic.
This is the point of no return. From tomorrow, the genie will be out of the bottle and it will be very difficult to put it back.
The further easing of the lockdown in England comes too soon. First, the Test and Trace system will not be fully operational for several weeks. Second, the R number is at or very close to 1.
This explains why scientists are queuing up to say the Government’s decisions are premature. From now on, if you hear a minister claiming they are “led by the science” you will know it’s not true.
This week the authority of the Government’s public health message has been severely weakened by the Dominic Cummings affair. There is a real danger that the sense of collective discipline is about to be lost.
As schools and shops open, some people might feel that normality is returning and that the danger has passed. The consequences of that could be devastating. So where do we go from here?
To start, we need to empower the public with more information so that they can make their own judgments on the extent to which they make changes. Let’s trust in the good sense of the British people.
The Government should immediately agree to publish the R number for each of the English regions on at least a weekly basis.
Beyond that, it also needs to mount a concerted effort to restore confidence in its health messaging.
During the swine flu crisis in 2009 statements I was making in the Commons often sparked political debate, which heightened concern rather than providing reassurance.
So I took a back seat on public communications and left the daily briefings to Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Liam Donaldson.
The current Government should do the same. Interventions from ministers are often not helping, but in fact making things worse.
When the Prime Minister prevented his experts from answering a question, I winced.
When Michael Gove started to claim he had driven a car to test his eyesight, he knew that we knew that he wasn’t being truthful.
It is time for ministers to take a back seat. To restore confidence, scientists alone should lead the Government’s daily briefing and speak freely and fearlessly.