LONDON (Reuters) – As the UK’s COVID-19 death toll approaches 100,000, anguished relatives of the dead have expressed anger at the way Prime Minister Boris Johnson has dealt with the worst public health crisis in a century.
When the new coronavirus, which first appeared in China in 2019, slid silently across the UK in March, Johnson initially said he was confident it could be shipped in weeks.
But 97,939 deaths later, the UK has the fifth worst official death toll in the world – more than the number of civilians in World War II and double the death toll in the 1940-41 Blitz bombing campaign, although the population total was less.
Behind the numbers, there is sadness and anger.
Jamie Brown’s father, 65, died in late March after it was suspected that he contracted COVID-19 while traveling on a train to London for work. At the time, the government was thinking about a blockade.
Guided by doctors to stay at home, he woke up days later with a tight chest, disoriented and nausea, and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. He died of cardiac arrest five minutes after arriving.
Her son said the virus had damaged his lungs to the point that his heart stopped. He was a month away from retiring. “For me, it has been terrifying and distressing to see everything you expect to be taken away. He will never be at my wedding; he will never meet grandchildren, ”Brown told Reuters.
“So, you watch the death toll increase as ministers pat themselves on the back and say the good work they did. It changes very quickly from personal mourning to collective mourning. “
Some opposition scientists and politicians say Johnson acted very slowly to prevent the virus from spreading and then disrupted the government’s strategy and the execution of its response.
Johnson resisted calls for an investigation into how to deal with the crisis and ministers say that while they did not do everything right, they were making decisions quickly and have one of the best global vaccination programs.
The UK death toll – defined as those who die within 28 days of a positive test – rose to 97,939 on January 24. The number has increased by an average of more than 1,000 a day in the past 7 days.
‘JUST UNFORGETTABLE’ ANSWER
In a series of investigations, Reuters reported how the British government made a number of mistakes: it took a long time to detect infections, delayed blocking and continued to discharge infected patients in hospitals.
The government’s top scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, said in March that 20,000 deaths would be a good result. Soon after, the worst case scenario prepared by government scientific consultants estimated the possible death toll at 50,000.
Many of the mourners are furious and want an immediate public inquiry to learn lessons from the government’s response.
Ranjith Chandrapala died in early May in the same hospital where she took passengers to and from her bus.
Her daughter, Leshie, said the 64-year-old man was thin, healthy and had not lost a day’s work driving the bus in the past 10 years.
She said he did not receive a mask – she bought one for himself – and passengers were not instructed to wear it.
“The way the government handled the crisis was negligent, it is simply unforgivable,” she said. “The people in power just sent these guys without protection.”
Chandrapala stopped working on April 24 after developing symptoms of COVID-19. He died in the ICU 10 days later, with the family unable to say goodbye in person.
At the beginning of the March pandemic, one of England’s most experienced doctors told the public that wearing a face mask may increase the risk of infection. The government made facial coverage mandatory for passengers in England on June 15.
Nearly 11 months after the UK recorded its first death, some British hospitals look like a “war zone”, said Vallance, as doctors and nurses fight more infectious variants of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that scientists fear may be more mortal.
On the front line of COVID-19, patients and doctors are fighting for life.
Joy Halliday, a consultant in intensive care and acute medicine at Milton Keynes University Hospital, said it was “truly painful” for the team to see so many patients die.
“(Patients) deteriorate very, very quickly, and they are going to talk to you and look very well, for 20 minutes after they don’t talk to you anymore, for another 20 minutes after they are no longer alive,” she said.
“This is incredibly difficult for everyone.”
Written by Paul Sandle; edition by Guy Faulconbridge and Mike Collett-White