Boris MISSED 5 COBRA meetings

Marmadoit, you say 'No one could have foreseen this' - yet we did see it coming, looming large, first in China, then in Europe.

Still, our government dithered and did too little, too late. It was seen by the rest of the world! The sheer arrogance of deciding to ignore the WHO's advice cost us dearly - in lost lives!

www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-britain-outbreak/uk-was-too-slow-to-react-to-the-coronavirus-outbreak-professor-says-idUSKBN21Z17O

I agree with Hetty, the clues were there and were ignored by the Government, I can only shake my head and despair of the needless lives that have been lost, all those families grieving , it's desperately sad
To answer Paddyanne's OP, Johnson is PM of this country, which happens to be in the throes of a national emergency. If he had personal matters at home, then he should have dealt with them in his own time, not at the expense of people's' lives
He has blood on his hands

One of the most irritating aspects of these discussions is the number of posters who say that no-one could have foreseen this, or, no-one knew what would happen.

It is the business of governments to be constantly aware of possible threats and to plan for them. The possibility of a pandemic has been on the cards for many years now and, at one time, UK governments seriously planned for them.

The ST article makes this clear. It also makes clear that the UK government had lost its grip on emergency planning for a health crisis. We (i.e. I and other posters) have noted several times before on these forums the Exercise Cygnus in 2017 which concluded that the NHS would fail catastrophically in a pandemic situation but nothing was done about it.

The general public might be ignorant about these things but the government has absolutely no need or right to be ignorant. What on earth do people think a 'government' is actually in place for?

From the article:

While a possible pandemic had been listed as the No 1 threat to the nation for many years, the source says that in reality it had long since stopped being treated as such.
Several emergency planners and scientists said that the plans to protect the UK in a pandemic had once been a top priority and had been well-funded for a decade following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. But then austerity cuts struck. “We were the envy of the world,” the source said, “but pandemic planning became a casualty of the austerity years when there were more pressing needs.”

I think the 'source' is putting it kindly in the last sentence...

Maizie
I am not making up fake news. I saw Keir Starmer this weekend on SkyNews asking when we are going to start to have an end to lockdown.

On the other hand Maizie I completely agree with your post of 21.59.

It has been reported that Britain sent a large amount of PPE to China in January/February this year. That’s a very noble and normally correct thing to do. However tonight my Son in Law, a doctor has gone to work and he has only two masks for the whole shift. My daughter has been texting me, her anxiety levels are through the roof about him, about herself, also a doctor, because although she had PPE at work, it is now dangerously low and she’s working tomorrow. She’s also anxious because the school has sent through masses of work for the children and they will not be there to teach them. The school is no longer providing teachers, presumably must be unqualified staff, and cannot guarantee care for her children long term even though they are both key workers.
When the country claps the NHS workers do they have a clue how stressed and anxious they are, not just about their jobs, but their household arrangements when grandparents have been told they’re not allowed to help. Her anxiety levels make me just want to say bring the children here we’ll take care of them and teach them.

The article in the Times today sets out quite clearly how this government has failed the country in dealing with this deadly outbreak.

Summarising that article:

On 31 December the WHO was told of the unusual and dangerous illness that had struck Wuhan..

By 3 January the virus had spread to six countries.

On 17 January Professor Neil Ferguson stated the news of cases reported outside of China as being "worrying" in that it "suggested substantial human-to-human transmission.

On 22 January a meeting of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies was convened. On the same day Chinese scientists warned that the virus had an unusually high infectivity rate.

On 24 January there was a Cobra meeting. (Boris Johnson did not attend - he was at a function relating to the Chinese community - he did not attend four subsequent meetings).

Matt Hancock (who stood in for him) "bounced out of Whitehall and breezily told reporters the risk to the UK public was "low"," despite a study published in The Lancet in which Chinese doctors compared the virus to the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918, and despite receiving a warning from Professor Ferguson that a lockdown was essential. Flights into the UK from Wuhan and other Chinese cities continued (until March).

On 29 January two Chinese nationals fell ill with the virus at a hotel in York.

On 30 January the WHO declared the virus to be a global emergency.

Our official scientific advisers had faith that the country's plans for a pandemic would be effective. However several other emergency planners argued that although the British pandemic plan was excellent, The Cygnus exercise in 2016 had listed many shortages brought about by austerity which would affect the plan's effectiveness. These criticisms re significant shortages were never addressed.

An essential part of the pandemic plan is apparently to identify anyone who becomes ill and prioritise the tracing of any of their contacts so that they can be put in quarantine. When a Sussex businessman was identified as having the virus on 6 February, all his contacts were tested.

However, influenced by the government's plan to follow the "herd immunity" route, favoured by Dominic Cummings and backed up by Chris Whitty, the focus on testing was not seen as vital and no steps were taken to increase the supply of tests.

During all this time, no steps were taken in the early weeks to urgently procure personal protection equipment. The first order was made on 30 January, by which time producers were inundated with orders from around the world. At this time of dire warnings re shortages, on 24th February Downing Street admitted that the UK government had actually sent PPE supplies to China!

"A senior department of health insider described the sense of drift witnessed during those crucial weeks in February: "We missed the boat on testing and PPE".

Towards the end of the second week of February, Johnson said everyone "should be confident and calm" about Britain's response to the virus. He then headed for a 12-day "working holiday" at Chevning with his fiancee. During this time risk specialists and disease specialists were voicing concerns that the NHS would be overrun during a pandemic as it could not do 1,000 tests a day.

On 25 February Johnson returned to London for the Conservatives' big fund raising ball. By this time he had missed 5 Cobra meetings.

On 26 February there were 13 known cases in the UK and ministers were warned through another advisory committee that the country was facing a catastrophic loss of life unless drastic action was taken. They said an immediate lockdown was needed.

By 28 February there were 19 cases in the UK and Johnson announced that he was attending a meeting with Cobra - after a weekend at Chequers with his fiancee.

At the Cobra meeting on 2 March a "battle plan" was drawn up to contain, delay and mitigate the spread of the virus- five weeks after the first Cobra meeting. There was then a further nine days' delay as Johnson and his advisers debated what measures were required. Then Johnson (ignoring the advice to avoid shaking hands) contracted the virus himself.

How can anyone honestly say that this crisis has been handled with the efficiency and urgency that it so obviously required?

Immunity - by herd contact or recovery. Judging by other cold or flu epidemics immunity is not likely to be long lasting, which is why we are advised to have a flu vaccination every year. Covid 19 is behaving like a common cold virus but much more infectious and we are all relying on our own immune systems to fight it off. The NHS are treating the worst affected as best they can.

Apart from vaccine research there are many trials being done how best to treat the symptoms, that would seem to be the best short term way of reducing the death rate.

The information from the article from The Times has been denied officially by the government.

He`s been ill so i would imagine he was too ill to be at any meetings.

maddyone Well as Mandy Rice-Davies was purported to have said: "They would say that, wouldn't they".

Well in all fairness, I can’t say I disagree Eloethan, it’s simply with hearing about fake news, I’m not in a position to say whether the article in The Times is correct or not, and media don’t exactly have a whiter than white reputation do they?
So who is a normal citizen supposed to believe?

There is a clear rebuttal of the Sunday Times article today by the Dept of Health. I did put up a post about it but it seems to have been overlooked! The link, should anyone want to view the other side of the coin on this matter is healthmedia.blog.gov.uk/2020/04/19/response-to-sunday-times-insight-article/

After winning the election Boris could not be seen.
First he went off for a expensive holiday in the Caribbean. Then he had another holiday in a stately 350 acre mansion in Kent.
He did not even bother to go to flooded areas in Britain. It took him a while before he he went there.
Missing 5 Cobra meetings in a row is inexcusable.
He was very laid back and did not take corona virus seriously i.e did not put a plan to tackle it in time and of course now that he is recovering he has delegated the conferences etc to the ministers.
Hope he will get better and be a leader and PM that he was chosen for

He missed the Cobra meetings in January/Feb before he was sick.

Glorybee
Thank you for that. When I pointed out that The Times article was said to be wrong by the government, I got the response ‘well they would say that wouldn’t they?’ A nasty response in my opinion. If Boris Johnson came out with a magic wand, waved it and made everyone miraculously cured, there’d still be complainers about him on here.
What don’t people understand about him being unwell and now recuperating, it’s not rocket science.

Are you disputing the dates and the events that that I summarised from the article in the Times yesterday Glorybee?

I don't think saying "they would say that wouldn't they" is a "nasty" response. Gove previously said that Johnson was not "fit to be PM" but now that Gove has a senior position in the Cabinet, his view has miraculously changed. Many, many scientists, epidemiologists and other senior medical people are saying this government was slow and complacent with regard to the threat this virus posed, and the situation with regard to PPE and testing has gone from bad to worse. Up until his own illness, Johnson never seemed to grasp the seriousness of the situation, hence his shaking hands with all and sundry after advising others not to.

Eloethan, I think you meany to reply to Maddyone, but whilst I’m on, could I ask if you read the facts as set out by the Dept of Health? Some of the issues you mention are covered in it.

healthmedia.blog.gov.uk/2020/04/19/response-to-sunday-times-insight-article/

‘Meant’ to reply

Paddyanne, once again you write most off most the citizens if this country, which you don't appear to like, as idiots. Have you never questioned why everyone is out of step with you?
Boris was dangerously sick with the virus and at deaths door, perhaps, if there is someone you care for, you watch them battle for life, they will jump out of bed and resume their life as normal. It attacks the lungs and can take months to recover. He is PM because we wanted him, he is a man and we have human compassion as the NHS have, that he and everyone affected recover, that what we clap for. You obviously have all the answers perhaps you can arrange personal protection, they need help there. This is an unprecedented pandemic, most of us are pulling together.

Most of us appear to be pulling together despite Johnson.

His recent illness didn't affect how he behaved in the past.

Please don't claim that we wanted him. I certainly didn't and the Conservatives didn't even win an absolute majority in the last general election. Even now there are Conservatives who don't want him.

I am entitled to my opinion as much as anybody else - paddyanne or you Sparkling. Personally, my opinion is that Johnson is the worst PM in living memory. He doesn't have leadership qualities, he's not interested in details, strategic planning or facts and he has a reputation for being lazy and arrogant (something I've never seen dispelled). He's filled his cabinet with sycophants who are woefully lacking in personal experience and talents and have been running around like headless chickens over the last couple of weeks.

That's not hatred. That's wanting to be governed by competent leaders, especially during a life-threatening crisis.

How do you know that the Department of Health has issued fact Glorybee? I've read it and it appears to me that some of it is extremely selective with the truth.

I would regard it as fact, inasmuch as anything else, as all actions, meetings etc will have been minuted (my husband is a retired civil servant) I suppose it all depends on what people ‘want’ to be true!

COBR meetings aren't always minuted in detail, although a list of those attending will have been produced. My daughter and a number of close relatives are (un)retired civil servants and my extended family has a trophy cabinet of honours for being civil servants.

Yes, it does depend what people want to be true and some seem to have their blinkers and earplugs superglued in place.

Glorybee The official DoH rebuttal has some glaring omissions and doesn't address some of the main issues. Try cross checking it for yourself.