Vote for quality leaders, not artists – that’s what I hope the Covid report says Devi Sridhar
IIt is as if a collective amnesia has begun under the coronavirus. We all just want to move on and pretend it didn’t happen. But, as the saying goes, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
On April 20, 2020 she tweeted“At what point will the British public realize what has happened over the past nine weeks?” On Thursday, the Covid Inquiry published its report Unit 2 report On the political response to the pandemic. Finally the answer to my tweet, after more than five years.
At the time, the UK government (through its belated and chaotic response) already appeared to have taken the worst course, leading to tens of thousands of deaths and a strict lockdown. The investigation report clearly states what many could see at the time. Had it followed a similar containment path to better-performing countries, such as South Korea, Denmark, Norway and New Zealand, England could have avoided multiple lockdowns and perhaps the majority of deaths in 2020. As of January 2020, other countries Show the way Through early action and strong public health systems based on testing, tracing and isolation.
The report confirms that we had a distracted and absent Prime Minister in Boris Johnson, ill-advised and working within a dysfunctional Number 10. It is not surprising, then, that the devolved administrations did not trust the Prime Minister. Defying logic, we were all told to stay at home and not travel beyond a certain distance, while airports remained open without screening arriving passengers. It was like trying to empty the bathtub while the faucet was still running. prattle.
Moving into the summer of 2020, the UK government, with Rishi Sunak as chancellor and without consulting scientists or the devolved governments, launched a second wave through the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, which incentivized people to go to places where there was a high risk of transmission and infection. Confusing. Food to be collected or taken away (which would also have supported struggling hospitality businesses) was not part of the scheme.
For full disclosure, I was asked to give Written and oral evidence for this unit of investigation. From February 2020 onwards, my team at the University of Edinburgh reallocated a large grant from the Wellcome Trust to work on Covid. Use of international data From governments and academics, my view has been that we need to suppress the virus to the lowest possible level and go after clusters as soon as they appear until a vaccine is approved and circulated. Genomic research It appears that Scotland was able to extinguish the first strains of the virus before they were re-imported in the summer of 2020 through travel. Again, there it is There is no point in draining the bathtub if the faucet remains open. But this is all old news.
The Covid story had a relatively happy ending: Vaccines saved us from a disastrous future and separated cases from hospitalizations, making Covid’s death rate lower than that of seasonal influenza. The heroes of the Covid story are science and the NHS (and immigration, too). Johnson has attested to this(Due to the international healthcare team who treated him for severe Covid in hospital).
Reflecting on this report, I cannot help but wonder what it adds to our understanding of what happened politically, and what lessons it offers for the future. It’s a very expensive undertaking: it has already happened It cost approximately £200 millionand Scotland is conducting its own ongoing investigation into A At a cost of 45 million pounds sterling. Most of these costs are for the legal teams. Compare this with all the independent scientists in expert advisory groups who worked for free for hundreds of hours over two years. I cannot see anything in the Unit 2 report that has not already been covered in published books, articles and analyzes about what happened and why.
From a scientific perspective, the report can never hope to provide a single plan ready to respond to every pathogen that could become a pandemic. A response to one virus will not work for another, and neither will Depends on the characteristics from a specific outbreak. What we really need for our politicians to respond effectively to the next potential pandemic is agile leadership, smart decision-making, flexibility, humility, and trustworthiness. How does one build those into a political system?
After promoting the newsletter
Yes, the story of Covid is about incompetence and failed leadership in the UK government. But how can one learn lessons from this in a democracy that allows people to vote for the party they want to lead the country? It’s certainly a matter of voting efficiency over entertainment. Vote for those who are detail oriented, thorough and hardworking. I think Jacinda Ardern is an example of someone with these qualities – and why New Zealand has done so well during the pandemic.
I bring more hope to Investigation report on government purchases upon issuance. The most shocking story of the pandemic has been the corruption allowed by Conservative government ministers. Analysis by New York Times Of the 1,200 government contracts worth nearly $22 billion during the pandemic, nearly half were found to have gone to companies run by friends and associates of Conservative politicians, or those with no experience in the field. Jolyon Maugham highlighted “the enormous financial rewards you can reap if you have a minister who looks out for your interests.” Its Good Law Project estimates that more than £4 in every £5 spent on PPE is wasted or lost.
Some people see the suffering and want to help. Some people see the same situation and think that it is easy to get money. What the inquiry can do is recommend legislation that protects the system and taxpayers’ money from profiteering in crises. This must be done now, in a time of “peace”. We need strict rules, so that when some greedy people think disaster is an opportunity to get rich on public money, and politicians are willing to enable it, the law prevents it from happening.
I can’t help but think of Michelle Moon, who has become the face of this hidden group of pandemic profiteers. Why not call legislation aimed at protecting taxpayer money – and improving confidence in our politicians and government – “Lady Michelle’s Finance Law”? This would be a great recommendation for the next part of the investigation.
-
Professor Devi Sridhar is Head of the Department of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh
-
Fit Forever: Wellness for midlife and beyond
On Wednesday 28 January 2026, join Annie Kelly, Devi Sridhar, Joel Snape and Mariela Frostrup, as they discuss how to live a longer, healthier life, with expert advice and practical advice.
Book tickets here or on guardian.live -
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to email a response of up to 300 words for consideration for publication in our letters section, please click here.