‘The government’s current public infection control strategy is not working, it is leading to rocketing case numbers,’ says BMA chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul
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The British Frozen Food Federation has described the measures announced by the government last night to allow around 10,000 food depot staff to use testing as an alternative to isolation (see 9.28am) as “worse than useless”. Richard Harrow, the BFFF’s chief executive, explained:
The government announcement last night that parts of the supply chain will be allowed to test and release workers that are pinged by track and trace only goes part of the way. It shows that yet again government does not understand how connected the food supply chain is, only opening part is unlikely to solve the overall issue.
Plus, who is in and who is out, who decides and how do they decide? Confusion continues to pervade and I have been advised no list until Monday. This is worse than useless.
The British Medical Association, effectively the trade union for doctors, has called for “an urgent rethink” of the government’s Covid strategy, arguing that Boris Johnson has gone to far in lifting restrictions. Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the BMA chair, has frequently questioned government policy in the past, but this morning he issued a particularly strong critique, arguing that the media focus on the so-called pingdemic is missing the point. He said:
The government’s current public infection control strategy is not working, it is leading to rocketing case numbers with more illness in the community, more people in hospital, and more people having to isolate. It is time for an urgent rethink rather than staying on the same course.
BMA members across the country are seeing patient care threatened as surges in Covid illness is resulting in hospitals having to cancel more non-urgent care and GPs are overstretched with demand. Local public health units are overwhelmed with calls from schools and businesses. These pressures are now being exacerbated by increasing numbers of health service staff themselves falling ill or self-isolating, and unable to work at a time when they are most needed. Other key services such as supermarkets are telling us that they are struggling to put food on their shelves due to staff absences.
Exempting healthcare staff from self-isolation to get them back to work is a desperate and potentially unsafe policy that does not address the root problem. The safety of patients and staff must be paramount. People go to see healthcare professionals in order to get better, not to risk getting infected, and staff should not fear transmission of the virus from their own colleagues.
