The Office for National Statistics and the Government’s own daily figures have both revealed that the UK death toll from covid has passed 100,000 people.
This is horrifying, but it was not inevitable. Many of those individual lives could have been saved if decisions had been taken swiftly and resolutely. Other nations have not fared so badly.
The Government ‘risk register’ warned of a pandemic, but Ministers squandered supplies then gave PPE contracts to their friends who failed to provide the kit needed, leaving nurses without. Lockdowns were avoided when they could have prevented infections and hospitalisation. Insufficient help has been given to allow people to isolate and many self-employed people have had no help at all.
One year into this crisis and the tracing system contracted out by Ministers is still not working and our airports are also still largely unprotected.
100,000 is a grim milestone. Yet it seems Boris Johnson doesn’t think our country or people deserve any better. Not one Minister has been sacked, resigned or even moved as a result of their poor performance, despite school exam and opening fiascos, the whole Cummings road trip/eye test shenanigans, and care homes full of vulnerable having covid patients placed in them. No one has yet apologised for the extraordinary losses people have experienced.
100,000 deaths. Not inevitable. A public inquiry will have to examine how this awful death toll took place and cannot come soon enough to prevent further tragedy.