Covid-19 - The Day The Press Lost Faith

Alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson and his Government went into the Coronavirus crisis with the full support of most print media, and a good deal of the new media. Those dissenting from official strategy and pronouncements were sidelined, dismissed, even smeared, while Bozo The Clown, we were assured, was doing a great job. Yesterday, another 563 deaths were announced, and the mood music changed.

Today’s front pages illustrate the extent of the new dissent, from free sheet Metro “The heroes on front line STILL without proper kit”, through the Mirror’s “SHAMBLES”, the Mail’s “550,000 NHS STAFF … ONLY 2,000 TESTED”, the Times “Virus testing plans in chaos” and the i Paper “NHS frontline staff let down on testing” to the Guardian’s grim warning “Virus patients more likely to die may have ventilators taken away”.

Only the Murdoch Sun is left to deflect from the failings. Why this should be is not difficult to deduce: the questions keep being asked, but in place of clear and honest answers has come evasion. The Downing Street machine is very good at slagging off the opposition in order to bolster its press coverage, and hence poll ratings. But it is lousy at dealing with an opponent that can’t be dismissed, not even with the most brutal smear campaign.

And the bad news only fuels the idea that those in charge don’t have a proverbial Scooby Doo when it comes to getting a handle on the pandemic. Covid-19 testing? Alberto Nardelli of BuzzFeed had more on that: “The UK Missed Out On Thousands Of Extra Coronavirus Tests After A Communications Breakdown Between Two Government Agencies”.

David Schneider observed the BBC’s Jane Hill’s astonishment at revealing that just 30 new ventilators were to be deployed. “40 new hospitals are actually 6 hospitals … 50,000 new nurses is actually 31,000 nurses … 30,000 new ventilators is actually... 30 … Can this be true?! It’s just insane”. It can, and arguably, it is. And Personal Protective Equipment?

Sky News had something on that, after the incessant talk of “ramping up”: “Heads of Britain’s health and social care unions have warned ministers that lack of personal protective equipment for NHS and social care workers is a ‘crisis within a crisis’ and has called on the government to increase the supply urgently”. So much for “ramping up”.

And the daily Downing Street press conference was not inspiring confidence, as the Guardian’s John Crace observed. "This Downing Street press conference is a complete car crash. Government just doesn't have any answers on testing”. Richard Horton, editor of the Lancet, vilified but now vindicated, added “I understand that Public Health England has a complex relationship with government, but seeing PHE leaders defending a failed government testing strategy is hard to take. Remember that Duty of Candour?”

John Burn-Murdoch of the FT brought the day’s stats, and their bad news: “The US now has more deaths than France had a day earlier in its outbreak … UK death toll is now higher than Italy’s at the same stage”, while Horton concluded “The handling of the COVID-19 crisis in the UK is the most serious science policy failure in a generation. Last week, the Deputy CMO said, ‘there comes a point in a pandemic where that [testing] is not an appropriate intervention.’ Now a priority. Public message: utter confusion”.

The honeymoon is over. Now Bozo must shape up. If not, he may have to ship out.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by adding to its Just Giving page at

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/zelostreet5

[The Legalballs Fund has now closed]