FEAR NOT, WE HAVE A PLAN B!

 

ARE we heading for another U-turn from the Government re their coronavirus ‘plan’ with the news that the number of cases is still rising and that the NHS is under almost unendurable pressure?

Last month the government published its COVID-19 response autumn and winter plan 2021, which actually states on its website that Plan A (because yes, they do have a plan B!) “relies on building the country's defences through vaccines and other pharmaceutical interventions; continuing to use 'Test Trace and Isolate'; protecting the NHS; giving clear guidance to people and businesses on how to protect themselves; and helping vaccinate the world and manage risks at the border.”

Let’s just pick this apart a little.

Yes, the vaccine rollout has been quite a success, thanks to our overwhelmed NHS.

Pharmaceutical interventions? Do they mean masks and hand sanitiser? To my admittedly not extensive knowledge I haven’t heard of any medicines we can take to combat Covid. But hey, isn’t the government supposed to be better informed than little old me?

Test, Trace and Isolate. Are they referring to the infamous Test & Trace app which cost £25 million and was touted as ‘world-beating’? I’m going to go right ahead and assume that most of that £25 million went into the pockets of Tories and their mates because we all know T&T has been pretty much an abject failure. It only curbed the transmission of coronavirus by two to five percent last year. Shouldn’t really come as a surprise given only 48 percent of mobile phones were compatible with the app, and users that did download it were offered very little incentive to engage with the platform.

It also lost the confidence of the public when it quickly became known users were being inaccurately notified of COVID-exposure, told to isolate for additional periods, or failing to notify users at all.

Clear guidance? Seriously? Quite apart from it having been revealed yesterday that the government had ignored scientific advice three weeks ago for tougher restrictions to cut rising coronavirus infections, we’ve had “get schools opened, they’re safe”, “close schools, they're unsafe”, “open all schools except the private ones”, "wear masks on public transport – if you feel so inclined, no pressure", "stay in your bubble”, but “you may attend some public gatherings” especially if they’re ones the wealthy wish to attend.

Helping vaccinate the world? Well, up until a couple of months ago the Tory government showed little interest in aiding any other country to vaccinate. Not what Matt Hancock would have us believe though, when back in May he claimed that the UK had done more than any other country to vaccinate the world’s poorest.

A statement strangely at odds with a report released by The International Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPPR)  in the same month. In May, the UK, along with the US, Canada and other wealthy nations were called “selfish” for securing more COVID-19 vaccines than it needs for their population.

The report, titled How An Outbreak Became A Pandemic, said “vaccine nationalism is not just a selfishness to be condemned, but a force to be feared and a problem to be reckoned with.

“As of now, high-income countries such as Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States and across the EU have been able to secure vaccine doses that would be enough to cover 200% and more of their populations.”

Anybody surprised that the government was found to be lying? Again.

But fear not, brave Brits, for the Tories have their Plan B!

This is a contingency plan which will come into effect in the event that measures are needed to prevent "unsustainable pressure" on the National Health Service.

These measures (according to the Government’s own website) include:

Introducing mandatory vaccine-only COVID-status certification in certain settings.

Making it mandatory to wear face coverings in certain settings.

Asking people to work from home if they can, for a limited period.

However, the government recognises that homeworking causes disruption and has significant costs implications for businesses and the economy, so a final decision on home working will be made in light of the Covid data at the time. (In other words, we still value money over lives just in case some of you peasants have missed that.)

Got a little news for you Tories, your Plan B doesn't even come up to the standards of most other countries’ Plan A, which has been in place since the beginning of this pandemic. While we’re not yet world-beating in the number of cases we may very well soon be.

And what I find frightening is that, despite us having the highest number of cases since March, Sajid Javid is expected to hold a COVID briefing at 5pm today, where he is not expected to implement Plan B, just as the chief executive of the NHS Confederation Matthew Taylor has said there is “overwhelming evidence” the UK needs to enforce 'Plan B' restrictions - or even a 'Plan B-plus' while we have business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng insisting suggestions of a return of restrictions on holidays are unfounded and that a conversation on more lockdown rules is "completely unhelpful”.

This must be the clear guidance the government promised us. How the hell are people still believing this absolute shitshow of a government? Well, the easy and most obvious answer is the lack of opposition from the spineless Starmer  but that’s a whole other story.

Who is fashioning guillotines these days? Or would that particular contract go to a mate of the Tories?

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