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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/01/matt-hancock-whatsapp-messages-telegraph-covid-pandemic>
"The
Telegraph’s Wednesday front page is dedicated to a huge trove of the
WhatsApp messages of former health secretary Matt Hancock, which journalist
Isabel Oakeshott has leaked to, in her words, avoid a Covid “whitewash”.
The resulting stories will be drip-fed out over the next few days, but we’ve
already learned quite a few things from the exchanges. Both Oakeshott and the
Telegraph were lockdown-sceptic, and seem to believe the leaked messages will
vindicate that view. But those we’ve seen so far confirm what was already
obvious for those with a front-row seat on the UK government’s bungling of
Covid-19: that there was a huge gulf between what public health experts and
scientific advisers were recommending and what the UK government actually did –
even as ministers claimed to be “following the science”.
This is exemplified by the exchange from April 2020, in which Hancock responds
to recommendations from the chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, that anyone
going into a care home should be tested for Covid. Hancock seems to push back,
telling an aide that this approach “muddies the waters”, and instead opting to
test only those coming from hospital – while publicly claiming to have thrown a
“protective ring” around care homes. (Hancock has said that these messages were
taken out of context, and that he had pushed for Whitty’s advice to be followed
but was told in a meeting earlier that day that it wasn’t logistically possible
to test everyone.) There were more than 30,000 coronavirus deaths in two waves
of infection during 2020 in care homes in England and Wales.
When debating how best to respond to the pandemic, my public health colleagues
and I were driven by looking at the latest data, analysing it and presenting
detailed advice to ministers. In contrast, Hancock’s messages on testing imply
that he was more driven by publicity, and what would make him look good – the
phrase “muddies the waters” seems to refer to the perception of a policy,
rather than how it would work."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
