Wednesday 20 May 2020

Maybe They Did Follow The Science Afterall

As the UK Government have been making a point of clearly saying that all their decisions were based on the science, it was only a matter of time until they blamed their mistakes on the scientists and it began yesterday with a Minister saying 'if the science was wrong, advice at the time was wrong. I'm not surprised people think we made the wrong decisons' and normally i would take it as a pathetic excuse to deflect the blame but then you need to consider what the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Jenny Harris was saying at the time.
She has been part of the Governments 5pm broadcasts for months and wow has she been giving out some duff advice on it.
She said cancelling outdoor events wasn’t necessary as: 'the virus doesn't last very long outdoors' therefore allowing the 250,000 racing fans to attend the Cheltenham Festival and announcing that other large sporting events: 'are not seen to be something which is going to have a big effect'. Ouch.
She also said that she supported the government decision to keep schools open while schools across Europe they were closing their doors and in response to criticism that NHS staff needed more Personal Protection Equipment, Dr Harris said that: 'the country has a perfectly adequate supply of PPE'. Ooof.
Ultimately the Politicians have the final say and the decisions have been ponderously awful but if they were getting advice like that, then i have some sympathy with them as afterall the Medical Team are the Experts and the one's who should be guiding them and as yet the scientists are not saying much.
Perhaps if they released the advice that they gave to the Politicians, and it is is shown that Boris Johnson's Government ignored or didn't actually 'follow the science' as they suggested it may clear them but recalling the words of Dr Harris, they may deservedly be the fall guys here.

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