7/31/2009

How little confidence can we have in this government's handling of swine flu ?

When swine flu first struck the British government proudly told people we were the second best prepared country in the world (France is the best) to cope with a pandemic.

I listed HERE how much the government got wrong with swine flu, but it seems they are continuing to cock up time and time again.

We read this week that the flu hotline is only staffed at 25% of the levels that will be required for the second bigger wave of infection, with the government having no plans in place to provide for extra staffing.

Then we read that the government are not training staff at airports to spot the signs of passengers with swine flu so as to stop them spreading the infection further. This is despite earlier claims back in April that there is no point in monitoring people leaving or arriving on aircraft as the symptoms cannot be spotted. This, of course, has proven to be wrong. The Chinese using temperature scanners have identified British tourists arriving who have early symptoms but no obvious signs of flu.

Now we read that the Americans are saying that pregnant women are four times more likely to suffer from complications than those who are not pregnant. Again, our government seems almost totally unaware, yet it was our government that lobbied hard to stop the WHO declaring it a pandemic whilst offering advice to pregnant women that simply said "avoid crowded places".

At every point in the swine flu crisis this government has cocked up. Is there anything this government does right ?

2 comments:

Null said...

Nich, to answer your questions, very little, no.

Brian E. said...

I'm told that Tamiflu was available at the local Car Boot sale last Sunday. Indications were that it was the genuine stuff. So much for the government distribution. I wonder how many people will find that their identity has been stolen when they actually try to get some for themselves?

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