BACK IN THE COVID - The Lockdown Diary Day 103

It almost felt painful to return to the news outside of our survival bubble and last night’s commentary on the announced extended shut down in Leicester. I felt very sorry for all those small businesses who had been busily restocking for lockdown to be eased this weekend, this will take several of them over the edge. The area is poor, full of sweat shop style businesses closely packed many of whom have been forced by their circumstances to ignore social distancing rules. 

The worst aspect of Leicester’s tragedy is that their plight and possibly future local death rate could have been mitigated by responsible, timely government action. The government knew that cases were rising long before they did anything about it. If Public Health had been on the ball they should already have been monitoring community spread throughout the nation. The implication is that any decision taken to ease lockdown was taken without systems in place to impose local local downs in time to do anything meaningful.

Perhaps the most damning issue is that the government has not allowed the data out to local authorities so that they can look after themselves. The results of so-called Pillar 2 tests, I.e. those made at test stations have been hidden or not available. It is not difficult to see why this deliberate act of concealment has been perpetrated. With the clinically vulnerable, the elderly and care homes safely indoors they are out of danger and death rates are falling. Similarly hospital lab tests are fewer and also falling so this is the only data published. Actual infections are not falling and in the case of Leicester have risen rapidly since the beginning of May as you can see from this data but only made available to Leicester Council late last Thursday. Pillar 2 Cases have been rising over time, it can be argued from the beginning of May.

You have to question the motives of a government that eases its pandemic lockdown and allows all of us vulnerable folks to begin venturing out while publicly implying that cases are reducing when they most emphatically are not! This is worse than lying, this is deliberate, national deception in the knowledge that avoidable death will result.

This morning when challenged the johnson lied to Parliament again. The truth is above compliments of the Leicester Mercury.