Covid strategy needs fine tuning

There seems to have been a process of deflection going on by some politicians, seeking to blame the public for Covid cases. The message stay at home, wash your hands and keep distance has been repeatedly stated since last March. In the main, the public have been very compliant in doing everything they have been told to do. One of the major problems with the latest lockdown has been the wide manner in which it has been drawn, with numerous exemptions. The result has been that it doesn't seem as impactful as the first lockdown. Out and about there seems to be little reduction in traffic levels, in fact they may have gone up. It is difficult to believe that all these people are on “essential” journeys. Buses continue to travel around, often empty or carrying a couple of people. The essential nature of certain services that have remained open seems questionable? We were told schools were shutting, yet it appears that there are so many categories covering key workers, that countrywide they are 25% full. Schools have been proven to be one of the main forums for transmitting the disease. It has been pointed out by numerous scientists, doctors and academics that people are obeying the rules, it is just the rules need some adjustments. Experts also point out that one area where this country really is falling is in not properly supporting those who are told they have to isolate. Other countries have brought in financial and other supports to anyone diagnosed with Covid – they are then able to isolate. Here, the failure to provide such support has meant that as few as 20 to 30% of those identified as having Covid are isolating. There are many people in this country, who if they don’t work, then they are unable to support themselves or their families – not working is not an option. BBC's Newsnight program recently reported workers in some areas, like care, avoiding being tested, for fear of being asked to isolate. If financial and other support was provided, as it has been in places like New York, then more people could isolate and the chance of transmitting the disease to others would be much reduced. Many of these ideas, as well as tightening border controls and accelerating vaccination were put forward by Stephen Reicher of the independent SAGE group (www.guardian.com) last month. Slowly the government has responded to each one but how much better could the situation be if they had acted on all of the suggestions earlier. The vaccination roll out is the one big hope of the moment to get us out of this mess. But the government’s failure to make the right call at the right time over the entire span of this pandemic has brought its authority into question. From the failure to sack senior advisor Dominic Cummings for breaching regulation in the first lockdown to behaving in a truculent, irresponsible way toward local authorities over shutting schools, the government has lost credibility. The present effort to put the blame on the public for the failing efforts to end this pandemic further fuels the lack of trust and belief amongst the public that the government knows what it is doing. It is a dangerous game. We live in a democracy, politicians are elected and trusted to govern – continual failure – especially when people’s lives are at stake – erodes that trust and belief. The government really does need to get hold of this situation, adjust the lockdown rules to bring the virus under control and come up with a route map that will see the country come out of this crisis, sooner rather than later. Everyone has had enough.