Over 5 weeks from Mar 12th as a group of public health professionals we wrote a series of letters to govt & multiple press commentaries due to our concern about the UK's #COVID19 response. V dismayed many of these issues >3m later are only now starting to be addressed. Thread-1/8
March 17 in @TheLancet we said: "a matter of a few days can prove critical in terms of saving lives & avoiding health system collapse" and called for UK government to urgently share scientific evidence used to inform #COVID19 response thelancet.com/journals/lance… (2/8)
Our open letter on March 15th called for #UK government to urgently share scientific evidence used to inform #COVID19 response -collecting almost 700 signatures in 3d. Evidence was late, & PH decisions now continue be announced w/o sharing evidence forms.gle/NiNyGQjER42G9M… (3/8)
On 20th March dismayed by govt inaction & knowing that every day would cost lives we called for immediate lockdown stating: "the UK is losing a very small window of opportunity to minimise the morbidity and mortality from the #COVID19 outbreak" (4/8) forms.gle/fXf8S7R957Hbi8…
On April 7th we urged extensive #COVID19 testing & tracing to be put in place before #lockdown measures relaxed: "extensive testing & tracing, coordinated by local area teams, will provide a clearer real world picture of each local epidemic" (5/8) forms.gle/gmYN8rKUKjVf5P…
On April 15th we requested transparency on evidence-based for UK guidance on self-isolation- concerned about both the discrepancy between UK (7d) and WHO (14d) guidance & the narrow spectrum of symptoms #UK uses as indication for self-isolation: forms.gle/mEjZ1fiiEBj67c… (6/8)
On April 22nd we urged the govt to introduce mandatory face coverings: "there is an urgent need to ensure general population use cloth face coverings in public places particularly when visiting busy closed spaces" docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI… (7/8)
Dismayed & disheartened by govt's continued lack of engagement w public health expertise in #COVID19 response. See thread above👆@AllysonPollock @globalhlthtwit @devisridhar @richardhorton1 @PWGTennant @drannewilson @thewrittenro @trishgreenhalgh @GabrielScally @Dr2NisreenAlwan
