Last night watched Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, front the latest government presser.
She said Britain couldn’t open up again until five criteria are met, the last of which is “confidence that any adjustments won’t lead to a second wave”. But that’s impossible. How can there ever be such a thing? You have to try and see.
And also: have we not learned anything from the first wave? Like, how to test, how to trace, how to isolate clusters? Why did none of the media ask this question? Which seems, to me at leat, to be the most germane.
And why did no one ask her about Hong Kong where we have much lighter lockdown — much lighter than the UK — and yet low infection and death figures? Isn’t there something to learn here?
Priti said she “sympathises” with people having difficulties, it I’ll bet she doesn’t because she’s never had to meet a payroll and so cannot know the “difficulties” of losing your whole livelihood.
Just before the presser we had the BBC no less showing empty hospital wards, because so few non-Covid patients s are being treated, empty operating theatres because people are afraid to come in for elective surgery and the recently-built Nightingale hospitals are almost empty. Why did no one ask about this. Hasn’t the “Save the NHS” gig just about done enough?
And why did no one ask her for a detailed plan for opening up? A plan that goes beyond repeating the five criteria, most of which are met, and the last one of which is such a loophole that it might be excuse, or reason, never to open up.
I’m a big fan of Priti Patel, but the media gave her a pass last night. I was disappointed at how willing she seems to be to keep a lockdown going no matter what. And disappointed the media let her get away with it.
She said Britain couldn’t open up again until five criteria are met, the last of which is “confidence that any adjustments won’t lead to a second wave”. But that’s impossible. How can there ever be such a thing? You have to try and see.
And also: have we not learned anything from the first wave? Like, how to test, how to trace, how to isolate clusters? Why did none of the media ask this question? Which seems, to me at leat, to be the most germane.
And why did no one ask her about Hong Kong where we have much lighter lockdown — much lighter than the UK — and yet low infection and death figures? Isn’t there something to learn here?
Priti said she “sympathises” with people having difficulties, it I’ll bet she doesn’t because she’s never had to meet a payroll and so cannot know the “difficulties” of losing your whole livelihood.
Just before the presser we had the BBC no less showing empty hospital wards, because so few non-Covid patients s are being treated, empty operating theatres because people are afraid to come in for elective surgery and the recently-built Nightingale hospitals are almost empty. Why did no one ask about this. Hasn’t the “Save the NHS” gig just about done enough?
And why did no one ask her for a detailed plan for opening up? A plan that goes beyond repeating the five criteria, most of which are met, and the last one of which is such a loophole that it might be excuse, or reason, never to open up.
I’m a big fan of Priti Patel, but the media gave her a pass last night. I was disappointed at how willing she seems to be to keep a lockdown going no matter what. And disappointed the media let her get away with it.
