LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th May, 2020) There is a serious disconnect between what the UK government is telling the population, and what is actually happening on the ground as lawmakers seek to begin easing lockdown measures enforced to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease, giving the impression that ministers lack a coherent plan, Neil McEvoy, a member of the Welsh Assembly, told Sputnik.
The UK government's efforts to ease lockdown measures in England have resulted in stark scenes on Wednesday of packed buses and trains, indicating a lack of social distancing. The images and videos, which were circulated on social media and published by media outlets, are leading to further scrutiny of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's handling of the crisis.
Johnson on Sunday announced that the government was planning to relax lockdown measures in England, which were put into place on March 23 across the entire United Kingdom.
The prime minister called on the population to work from home, but if this is not possible, citizens should begin to return to their workplaces; a message that received criticism from opposition lawmakers and trade union leaders for its lack of clarity.
CONFUSION AS GOVERNMENT SEEKS TO END LOCKDOWN
According to McEvoy, who represents the South Wales Central constituency in the Welsh Assembly, the government's handling of the entire COVID-19 outbreak has been shambolic.
"I don't think they have a plan. I don't think they've thought it through. The whole thing is a mess and there's a huge lack of confidence in decision-makers. They did lockdown. They eased pressure on the health service everywhere. But there are some pretty tell-tale indicators ... for example airports were open as usual. The same has been true for ports. So, looking at it logically, if there really was a lockdown aimed at stopping the virus, they'd be looking at closing the borders like other countries," McEvoy said.
The lawmaker dismissed the notion that economic factors were behind the easing of the lockdown policy. He said that if the UK government was serious about the nation's finances they'd have been more stringent in enforcing mass testing of people suspected of having COVID-19.
Figures published by the Office of National Statistics on Wednesday indicate that the UK economy contracted by 5.8 percent in March, with GDP in the first quarter of this year shrinking by two percent when contrasted with figures from the last few months of 2019.
Yet rather than following the�containment model put into place in countries such as South Korea, McEvoy argued the UK had found itself in a far worse situation, with the resulting damage to the economy being "catastrophic".
"If economic factors were the main driver then what they would have done then is to probably not lockdown at all. They'd have followed the method of South Korea with mass testing, use of phone data, and people being isolated. So, they were very successful at containing the virus and have not had to fully lockdown. Whereas here in the UK they've not done that. The catastrophic damage to the economy is continuing and will go on for a lot longer than otherwise," he said.
GOVERNMENT FACES CRITICISM OVER PPE SCANDAL
The assembly member also claimed that there remained a serious issue with frontline workers lacking personal protective equipment (PPE). The prime minister's cabinet has frequently struggled to respond to criticism of its inadequate PPE stocks following the outbreak of the pandemic, with a BBC Panorama investigation in April exposing serious shortcomings when it came to the government meeting its own PPE stockpiling targets from 2009.
Despite subsequent assurances that adequate protective gear will be supplied, there was ample evidence of the contrary when it came to matters on the ground, McEvoy argued.
"If I speak to frontline workers, there is still a problem with PPE not being provided. Senior managers at the highest level tell us it is being provided and yet those on the frontline tell it different," he said.
This was leading to an effective "disconnect" on what was being said by policymakers and what was being experienced on the frontline, with testing of vulnerable patients and staff remaining an issue, the lawmaker added.
"There seems to be a major disconnect in policy on testing as well. This was the case last weekend where I spoke to a care home where they could not get staff or residents tested despite there being COVID-19 in the home. There's a major disconnect in the reality on the ground and what politicians are saying," he said.
CASES, DEATHS KEEP RISING AS LOCKDOWN EASES
Total deaths for England and Wales stood at over 35,000 as of Saturday, according to the Office for National Statistics, which assesses the cause of mortality listed on death certificates. When deaths from Northern Ireland and Scotland are added, the total UK COVID-19 death toll is estimated to have already surpassed 40,000, despite public health authorities only reporting 33,186 deaths.
Despite the UK having the third-most cases of COVID-19 in the world, and the second-highest death toll, Johnson has announced that the government will begin to relax the lockdown restrictions in England.
The government has announced a four-nation plan, which will see the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have the authority to ease or extend the restrictions.
Questions remain over how precisely employers are to maintain adequate social distancing measures within the workplace. Concerns have also been aired over the ability of the police force to enforce such measures in public, with the sight of packed trains and buses prompting alarm over the risk of further transmission.
The general secretary of the RMT transport union, Mike Cash, told Sky news on Wednesday that action may be necessary to halt train services in the event of a continuation of allegedly unsafe conditions.
"Crowded trains, crowded platforms, crowded buses is actually not safe for anybody and we could risk more people getting the COVID-19 virus and actually make the situation worse. And this is not of our making ... the planning for this, the announcements by the government are both confusing and chaotic and we've got to do what we can to protect both our members and dare I say the passengers," he said.
On Wednesday, the Department of Health and Social Care reported 3,242 new cases of the coronavirus disease over the preceding 24 hours, a slight decrease from the 3,403 new positive tests announced the day before.�
