1/. Ten days ago, @MattHancock launched "#GenomeUK: the future of healthcare", a major new 10-year genomic healthcare strategy

Happening on a Saturday without much fanfare, it didn't get much news coverage beyond the biomedical press

And yet this is big.
2/. The launch of a new decade-long national health strategy should be big news at anytime, but coming amidst the #COVID19 pandemic & with the potential to shift genome research to the heart of No.10's programme for govt, it is of particular significance.
3/. Genome research has HUGE potential social & cost benefits, not just in medicine

In the right hands & with the appropriate checks & balances it is very important but, when it is being rolled out by this govt in conjunction with companies like #Palantir, scrutiny is needed.
#Palanitir & #FacultyAI - who both have links with #CambridgeAnalytica - won the contract without tendering, to build an Covid Data Store

The contract permits processing of data including
👉racial origin
👉criminal records
👉mental health info
👉political affiliations
👉religion
5/. At the same time as 'winning' the NHS contract, #Palantir 'won' the contract to building the HHS "Protect Now" #COVID digital platform for the US Dept of Health

We only know about the detail of these contracts thanks to a lawsuit in the US & the threat of a lawsuit in the UK
6/. On 8 July, the UK govt sidelined SAGE in favour of the secretive Joint Biosecurity Centre headed by a senior spy

On 22 July, Downing St took control of data

On 14 July, Trump ordered hospitals to send all #COVID19 data to HHS Protect, run by #Palantir

Is there a pattern?
“We could close our eyes & pretend that contrary to all the evidence, #Palantir is a rights-respecting company or we can call this façade what it is: another company placing profit over people, no matter the human cost.” M. Kleinman, @amnestyusa Sept 2020.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Stefan Simanowitz

Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @StefSimanowitz

6 Oct
1. “Why were we faffing around with Excel when the scientists were telling us not to?" @skynewsniall

“The system was designed in conjunction with our scientists... at PHE & the JBC they're all scientists who have been involved in this." @RishiSunak
2. “Scientists” didn’t decide on using Excel. It’s a reporting/admin tool

The scientists would have told IT what info the database needed to hold. The IT team should have designed a database fit for that purpose rather than using an old version of Excel.
3. Sunak is also allowed to claim: “We are now testing 250,000 people a day”

That’s the figure for tests “processed” NOT people tested

When @MattHancock claimed 226,000 people were being tested on 21/9, the actual figure turned out to be around 82,000.
https://t.co/yMSvOY3a6b
Read 5 tweets
5 Oct
Wow!

"The UK offers companies system-wide collaborative working, a dynamic regulatory system, active life sciences & increasingly expanding access to rich longitudinal data from the NHS’s 65 million patients"

A Dept of Trade / NHS "invitation to invest" directory-cms-public.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/Inve… ImageImageImageImage
Last week, the govt launched #GenomeUK.

The NHS is already implementing whole-genome sequencing as routine care in order to sequence 500,000 whole genomes by 2024.

NHS Wales just introduced a programme to sequence the genomes of critically ill newborns.
https://t.co/vhpoeUHxFu
If you don’t want your data shared with companies for research, you should have opted out before 30 Sept

You can still opt out but even if you do, they can still share your data if they anonymise it

The fear is that data dumps may have already been done.
nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-…
Read 4 tweets
3 Oct
No distancing, no masks & this photo (via @nytimes) shows the #AmyConeyBarrett super-spreader event last week was INDOOR as well as outdoor, despite official claims

Attendees who later caught #COVID19:
Donald Trump
Melania Trump
Mike Lee
Thom Tillis
Kellyanne Conway
John Jenkins
Trump's campaign manager, Bill Stepien, has also tested positive for #COVID19

This comes days after telling staff without symptoms there's no need for them to quarantine

Perhaps, the entire White House should be put under quarantine! #DonaldTrump #TrumpCovid #TrumpHasCovid @aoc
In early March, @BorisJohnson boasted about shaking hands with #COVID19 patients

5/5 - PM’s #TakeItOnTheChin comments

12/3 - @peston reveals that #HerdImmunity is the govt strategy

13/3 - SAGE advises lockdown

16/3 - SAGE informs govt

25/3 - Lockdown
Read 6 tweets
2 Oct
1/. One thing the govt excel at is shifting blame

They blame the scientists & the science, the students & the teachers. They even blamed NHS workers for using too much PPE!

Now the PM says the COVID spike is a result of a "fraying of people's discipline"
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-543921…
2/. Dido Harding said the rise in demand for COVID tests was unexpected & BLAMED it partly on schools not preparing enough over summer

Like the PM's "invisible mugger", it was "unexpected" even though public health experts had warned about this for months news.sky.com/story/coronavi…
3/. On the #CareHomeScandal, @BorisJohnson claimed:

* “clinicians made the final decision” to discharge from hospitals even though they were ordered to by govt

* care homes didn't "follow procedures"

* scientists didn’t know about asymptomatic spread
Read 4 tweets
2 Oct
The govt are acting as if they are beyond parliamentary scrutiny?

Q: Why are people are still unable to get tested & forced to drive hundreds of miles for a test? @TanDhesi

A: “I will not have this divisive language. I just won’t have it.
@MattHancock
It is a deliberate & well-rehearsed strategy

If asked about any govt failings, ministers go on the offensive

This was @BorisJohnson ystdy, accusing @Keir_Starmer of "continually trying to snipe from the sidelines & undermine what we are trying to do.”
"And so by malice, stealth & brutishness a pattern is set. Less & less transparency. Less & less scrutiny. Less & less accountability. Until they are entirely unleashed to bundle aside the truth and speak only their truths."

A lesson from history. Emerson Warner writing in 1949.
Read 9 tweets
2 Oct
Two days ago, #Trump mocked #Biden on masks: "I don't wear masks like him. Every time you see him, he's got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away and he shows up with the biggest mask I've ever seen."

Today, he tested positive for #COVID19. #BREAKING
Given his age (74) & weight (clinically obese), @realDonaldTrump is in the highest-risk group for hospitalization from #COVID19

Melania #Trump also tested positive for #coronavirus Image
In May, @SpeakerPelosi called Trump “morbidly obese”.

At around 240 pounds, Trump’s BMI is 30+ which is considered clinically obese.

As well as weight, people are at greater risk from coronavirus if they are 70 or older & have a condition affecting the brain or nerves. Image
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!