The governments management of the Covid-19 pandemic can be labelled in many ways, constant not being one of them.
The Daily Telegraph last Monday published an article by Paul Nuki, Global Health Security Editor and Data Journalist Ben Butcher: Are we heading for another Covid u-turn? There are reasons to be apprehensive. The article given its location in the most sacred of Conservative tomes, is quite shocking. It suggests that the PM could reverse some of his pledges of freedom only days after proclaiming them.
The article labels Johnson as a master in the dark arts, and cites similar major U-turns recently by the PM including: “This is going to be a mild to moderate illness” – March 5, 2020; “I want to be clear, we don’t want to ban Christmas… that would be frankly inhuman” – December 16, 2020; and, most recently: “I can see nothing in the data at the moment that means we can’t go ahead with step four on June 21st.” – June 2, 2021.
The article goes on to say: “And then there’s the dreaded data. As the Prime Minister stressed, nothing will really be decided for another week. What changes, if any, do occur on Freedom Day will only be confirmed on July 12 following a review of the latest numbers. Of course there is still a week to go – and hopefully things will improve – but anyone looking dispassionately at that data for the first time today would surely take a sharp intake of breath.”
The data since Monday 5 July has worsened not improved. In the past week, a total of 216,249 infections have been registered, up from 161,981 cases the week before. Hospital admissions are also rising but not as fast, for the week ending 9 July 509 were recorded, totalling 2,672, an increase of 56%.
The authors then quote chief scientific officer Sir Patrick Vallance saying: “Infection rates are rising exponentially across the country, doubling every nine days. Cases are growing in all age groups, with the rate of growth accelerating among 60 to 79 year-olds. And most worrying of all, hospital admissions, hospital occupancy and deaths are all also increasing. The link is weakened, not broken.”
The piece ends on the note: “One suspects that over the next seven days his advisers may tell him the ideal date would be when the other half of the country is fully vaccinated.”
If the article were published in The Guardian or the New Statesman it could easily be sidestepped as in line with their wider editorial tone, in The Telegraph that move is not so easily executed.
Johnson appears to make up policy on the hoof as he dithers his way through Downing Street press briefings. You can quite easily picture him in Cabinet the next day demanding ministers to fill the gaps on what he conceived the public wanted to hear the evening before.
The implications of any such U-turn for hospitality would be calamitous, but given the back catalogue of such incidents in recent months, don’t discount the possibility of another.
News from the hospitality and catering industry is also being featured extensively in our Facebook and twitter social media accounts with the opportunity to engage with others in hospitality and share your views.
Hospitality & Catering News: Is the biggest U-turn of them all about to be unveiled, The Telegraph thinks so. – 10 July 2021 – Is the biggest U-turn of them all about to be unveiled, The Telegraph thinks so.
Copyright: All content in Hospitality & Catering News is protected by copyright