Covid chaos and contracts are no surprise
THE daily figures for new Covid infections were mysteriously not increasing last week. But now we know why – 16,000 cases were diagnosed but not added to the total due to an IT fault.
As a result, planning to counter the pandemic was distorted and the people these infected individuals came into contact with have not been traced to warn them to self-isolate – leading to the virus spreading.
This chaos comes as no surprise. The Government does not do much grassroots work itself via civil servants any more, or trust local authorities to do the job, it gets firms of private contractors to do it.
With all this subcontracting, only 54% of virus contacts in the worst affected areas of the country are being traced to warn them to self-isolate.
Meanwhile, while some testing sites are overloaded, at others staff stand around playing with their mobile phones because there is no-one to test. And the Government has awarded hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers money to companies owned or run by donors to the Tory party, without competitive tendering because they claim that there is no time to do so – so they give the contracts to their cronies instead.
A company owned by a Conservative councillor was given £120m to produce face masks, while another company owned by a businessman who has given £60,000 to Tory MPs has seen its turnover increase ten-fold compared to 2019 due to contracts for PPE.
If this was a third world country, this would be called incompetence, possibly corruption, and there would be calls to cut the funding.
As you would expect from a Government led by Boris Johnson, what matters is not what you know, it’s who you know.
Name and address supplied 2020 has been a difficult year for everyone, and that is bound to have an impact on people’s mental health.
Many blind and partially sighted people have faced anxiety, sadness and even fear about the unique challenges they have experienced – such as problems social distancing, difficulty shopping without guidance and isolation from losing tactile contact with friends and family during lockdown.
That is why the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has worked with Mind to launch Emergency Mental Health Sessions for local blind and partially sighted people to mark World Mental Health Day.
The sessions are completely free and offer people with sight loss the opportunity to speak to a counsellor for an hour over the phone about however they are feeling and any problems that are on their mind. It doesn’t have to be about their sight at all.
If you or someone you know could benefit from speaking to someone, please call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999. We can set up a chat within 36 hours and the service can be used as many times as needed.
It’s been a tough year and it’s ok not to be ok, but you don’t need to suffer in silence.
Amanda Hawkins
Specialist Lead Emotional Support Services
RNIB
HE’S NOT UP TO THE JOB
WHEN Boris Johnson announced the details of the latest lockdown in the North West, he became confused and had to give up. On a different occasion he was asked about lockdown restrictions in another region, and again he did not know the detail. The local Mayor accused him of “making it up as he went along”.
When Boris tried to justify breaking international law by denouncing the withdrawal agreement with the EU, an MP heckled “why did you sign it then?” – to which Boris had no reply. Three Conservative former party leaders suggested he think again.
On their website, Conservative party members have ranked their own leader 24th out of the 25 members of the Cabinet – beating only the Education Secretary who created the A Level grades fiasco, and knowing the risk sent students to university, some of whom promptly tested positive.
He’d be an amusing guy to meet at a party but he’s just not up to the job of leading the country.
Harry Dobson
via email
CAN’T PASS BLUSTER
THREE months ago, the Prime Minister stood at a podium bearing the words ‘Build build build’ and announced what he called a New Deal for Britain – with a total of £5bn of capital investment projects to upgrade infrastructure, create jobs, and spur on the
UK’s economic recovery from Covid-19.
But when the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies investigated this ‘New Deal,’ the amount of new money was precisely zero.
Every penny had been taken from other worthwhile projects.
Boris Johnson can bluster all he likes but just like all the other announcements, he is unable to tell the truth about anything.
Ian Gibson
via email