Julia Hartley Dooda Bullying WRONG

With the Covid-19 pandemic still not completely over, and hospitalisation numbers climbing by the day, it is not OK to trivialise the virus and its potential effects on those unfortunate enough to become infected by it. But that thought has not been allowed to enter at Murdoch loss-maker and noise floor occupant TalkTV, and self-promoting host Julia Hartley Brewer.

Still waffling her way through her no-sense breakfast show each weekday morning, when she is not jetting off long haul to somewhere very exclusive and very expensive for the benefit and self-promotion of herself personally now, Ms Hartley Dooda has decided that, as a real proper journalist, she knows more about Covid-19 than an experienced immunologist.

As any fule kno, clever people like her who talk loudly in restaurants automatically trump mere expertise, and to demonstrate this concept in action, she decided to target Deepti Gurdasani, who you can tell as she’s a doctor, and also a clinical epidemiologist, who arranges for her daughter to come home at lunchtime, rather than eat at school.

Dr Gurdasani had told “I pick up my daughter from school for lunch every day, so she doesn’t have to take off her mask in a lunch hall with 100 other children - some of whom will have active infection and not even know it because of current [Government] policies”. Mention of Government, along with the knowledge based argument, affronted Ms Hartley Dooda deeply.

So, as she knew more about this situation than anyone else, off she went. “These people need help. In particular, this woman's poor daughter. She's at no risk from Covid but is forced to leave school every day to be with her hysterical mother who BTW is a clinical epidemiologist who should be equipped to make more rational judgements”. It WAS a rational judgment.

That is because Dr Gurdasani, as Professor Christina Pagel has explained, “is clinically vulnerable (as she has explained)”, adding “She also knows the very real risk of long covid in children & adults. Wanting to keep covid out of the family is sensible”. And, indeed, rational, as well as not being hysterical, which any competent journalist would have found out before sounding off.

Dr Gurdasani has summarised her condition: “I have ulcerative colitis - an auto-immune disease. I had a flare >2 yrs ago which only settled a few months ago. This means I have chronic fatigue which is very gradually improving”. She is also in demand for her expertise, adding “Was on [Sky News] just now speaking about the need to for UK govt and public health agencies to get out of COVID-19 denial, and develop a long term strategy for COVID. We can't go on like this”. Which Ms Hartley Dooda will not like.

After all, that could mean her facing restrictions like wearing a face covering, about which she has long been in denial, moaning that they don’t work, or rather, that she has found a study somewhere that claims they don’t work. She might also face restrictions on those reassuringly expensive long haul holidays. But her Tweet is still up, and of course there is no apology.

Because being so important means you never have to say sorry (see also under her advocacy for Brexit, for which she also won’t say sorry, despite the whole thing being exposed as an act of national self-harm that will hobble the economy for decades to come). Prof Pagel has added of Dr Gurdasani “She has been right far more often than most unlike JHB who is just a bully”.

A bully who can’t be bothered with facts or research. Ideal Murdoch material.

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