25th March 2020*
"Hi JVT. It's a bit late; what's up?"
"Steve, we need your help. Bloody medics are kicking off about the guidance change. They're refusing to see patients without FFP3"
"I thought the airborne HCID declassification was meant to sort that?"
[*Unverified date]
"Seems not. Twitter is kicking off; probably the source for this. Too many cottoning on the the fact that coughing releases aerosols & these have to be assumed to be infectious"
"Shit. We don't have enough even for ICU right now; what do you need from me?"
"A letter"
"Oh?"
"CAS Alert. You know; immediate national access all areas"
"Sorry, of course. Sure. When do you need it?"
"Saturday [28th] at the latest. Think you can do it? It'll need to be convincing on the IPC. But don't worry, @doyle_yg is on side, as is @AoMRC President"
"Wow. OK, fine. What are the essentials?"
"Great. Knew we could count on you.
Number 1: thank the staff for their dedication & say that their safety & PPE supply is a priority"
"Number 2: say you know there have been PPE supply problems, but you're confident these have been resolved"
"Number 3: The key is to make it clear that we are RECOMMENDING surgical masks for all staff in all covid19-facing roles except for AGPs & ICU.
We must stop general ward staff from getting their hands on FFP3 - there are just too many of them"
"Bloody hell JVT, it's going to be carnage. Do hospitals have enough staff to fill the gaps?"
"Don't worry Steve. It's sorted. You know the plans to bring forward provisional registration for doctors & nurses, & Trusts are up-skilling medical students to fill ward posts"
"And there's one more super important thing.
The most important.
You MUST include this exact phrase:
'COVID-19 is not airborne, it is droplet carried'
OK?"
"Hang on JVT. Chris blabbed to the bloody Health & Science Select Committees that covid is airborne on the 5th. Won't they remember?"
"Don't worry he hid this with his later answers. Plus the huge operation with PHE pushing hand hygiene, dispensers everywhere. Confusion reigns"
"But what if someone asks? I mean, asks for the data to support this 'not airborne' bollocks. What do we say?"
"Blimey Steve, stop being paranoid. It will never come up. But if it does, 'we do not hold any documents that falls within the scope of your request' usually works
Note: Clearly an imagined conversation between key leaders of the UK pandemic response, early March 2020
But the FOI request, & reply I received are the truth
#FreshAirNHS #COVIDisAirborne @covidinquiryuk
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