Thread by @richbeahan

"We are at a critical moment. We need to weigh up the balance of risks between easing restrictions, to enable more pupils to return to school, more businesses to open and more social connections to happen, with the risk of causing a resurgence of infections". @ADPHUK

"Directors of Public Health are increasingly concerned that the Government is misjudging this balancing act and lifting too many restrictions, too quickly". @ADPHUK

"..on what is currently known, several leading scientists/public health experts have spoken out about... national policy announcements affecting England which project a degree of confidence that many – including ADPH members – do not think is supported by the science". @ADPHUK

"...we are concerned that the resolve on personal hygiene measures, and need to immediately self-isolate, if symptomatic, is waning. A relentless effort to regain and rebuild public confidence and trust following recent events is essential." @ADPHUK

"At a local level, Directors of Public Health (DsPH) consider that honest and open dialogue with their communities is integral to effectively containing COVID-19 and managing outbreaks. That focus must be echoed at the very top of Government". @ADPHUK

"..must be a sustained and consistent fall in daily death rate. While first peak in deaths has passed, the downward trend is slow...
Deaths are a measure of what happened roughly two weeks before – the effect of easing measures now will only become evident in two weeks". @ADPHUK

"The critical debate is about the third test–ensuring the rate of transmission of the infection continues decreasing to manageable levels..
The rapid and multiple ways in which measures are being eased is likely to make it difficult to judge the cumulative impact on R". @ADPHUK

"As we saw in March, R can go above 1 in a very short space of time – and once it does it can take many months to bring it back down. The room for manoeuvre is tight".
@ADPHUK

"While testing capacity has undoubtedly increased, we are not yet confident that the current testing regime is sufficiently effective in getting the priority tests done and the results to where they are needed to enable swift action". @ADPHUK

"A second peak cannot be ruled out – whether it will overwhelm the NHS is an important question to ask. But perhaps the even bigger one is, do we really want the same number of deaths again"? @ADPHUK

"The scale to date represents an unimaginable tragedy and we must do everything possible to limit further loss of life". @ADPHUK

"The ADPH has argued that an effective contact tracing system is vital to keep R consistently below one. We set out a ‘Statement of Principles’ to outline what needs to be in place to make this work. A huge effort is underway to establish such a system". @ADPHUK

"But, let’s be clear, the NHS ‘Test and Trace’ programme is currently far from being the robust operation that is now urgently required as a safeguard to easing restrictions".
@ADPHUK

"The ADPH is calling for full implementation of all Phase 2 measures to be delayed until further consideration of the ongoing trends in infection rates and the R level gives more confidence about what the impact of these will be".
@ADPHUK

"There also must be a renewed drive to promote the importance of handwashing, social distancing and self-isolating if symptomatic, positive for COVID, or a contact of someone who is". @ADPHUK

"And, additional assurance is required that the NHS Test and Trace System will be able to cope with the scale of the task". @ADPHUK

"The risk of a spike in cases and deaths – and of the social and economic impact if we have to return to stricter lockdown measures – cannot be overstated; this needs to be understood not only by the public but also by the Government".
{Concludes} @ADPHUK

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