LONDON (Reuters) – As the death toll in Britain’s COVID-19 approaches 100,000, grieving relatives of the dead have expressed anger over Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s handling of the worst public health crisis in recent years. century.
When the new coronavirus, which first appeared in China in 2019, slipped into silence in the UK in March, Johnson initially said he was confident it could be shipped in packaging in a few weeks.
But with 97,939 deaths later, the United Kingdom has the fifth worst official death toll in the world – more than the civilian number during World War II and twice the number killed in the Blitz bombing campaign in 1940-41, although the total population was smaller then.
There is pain and anger behind the numbers.
Jamie Brown’s father, 65, died in late March after being suspected of contracting COVID-19 while traveling by train to London to work. At the time, the government was meditating on a deadlock.
Told by doctors to stay home, he woke up a few days later with a tight, disoriented chest and nausea and was taken to hospital in an ambulance. He died of a cardiac arrest five minutes after arrival.
His son said the virus affected his lungs to the point where his heart gave way. He was a month away from retirement. “It was awful and awful for me to see everything you were hoping for. He will never be at my wedding; he will never meet grandchildren, “Brown told Reuters.
“Then you see the death toll rise, while the ministers fought back and tell you what a good job they did. It changes very quickly from a personal pain to a collective one. ”
Some opposition scientists and politicians say Johnson acted too slowly to stop the spread of the virus and then cursed both the government’s strategy and the execution of its response.
Johnson has resisted inquiries into crisis management, and ministers say that while they have failed, they have made decisions as soon as possible and are among the best global vaccination programs.
The death toll in the UK – defined as those who die within 28 days of a positive test – rose to 97,939 on January 24. The number has increased by an average of over 1,000 per day in the last 7 days.
ANSWER “ONLY ACCOUNTABLE”
In a series of investigations, Reuters reported how the British government made several mistakes: it was slow to detect incoming infections, it was late with a blockage and it continued to discharge infected patients from the hospital to nursing homes.
The government’s chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, said in March that 20,000 deaths would be a good result. Soon after, the worst-case scenario prepared by government science advisers put the possible death toll at 50,000.
Many of those in mourning are upset and want an immediate public inquiry to learn lessons from the government’s response.
Ranjith Chandrapala died in early May at the same hospital where he took passengers to and from his bus.
His daughter, Leshie, said the 64-year-old was thin, healthy and had not missed a day’s work driving buses in 10 years.
She said she was not given a face mask – she bought it herself – and passengers were not told to wear it.
“The government’s handling of the crisis has been negligent, it’s just unforgivable,” she said. “People in power just sent these guys unprotected.”
Chandrapala stopped working on April 24 after COVID-19 symptoms. He died in intensive care 10 days later, with his family unable to say goodbye.
At the beginning of the March pandemic, one of England’s top doctors told the public that wearing a face mask could increase the risk of infection. The government made it mandatory to cover the face for passengers in England on June 15.
Nearly 11 months after Britain saw its first death, some British hospitals look like a “war zone,” Vallance said, as doctors and nurses battle more infectious variants of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. which scientists fear could be more lethal.
On the first line of COVID-19, patients and doctors are fighting for their lives.
Joy Halliday, a consultant in intensive care and acute medicine at Milton Keynes University Hospital, said it was “really heartbreaking” for staff to see so many patients die.
“(Patients) deteriorate very, very quickly and go from talking to you and looking very good, 20 minutes later to not talking to you, another 20 minutes later to not being in life, ”she said.
“It’s incredibly difficult for everyone.”
Written by Paul Sandle; edited by Guy Faulconbridge and Mike Collett-White