Neil Scolding

Don’t rush to judgement on Boris’s handling of Covid-19

Photo by LUCY YOUNG/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The verdict is in: Boris Johnson’s handling of coronavirus has been disastrous. Britain’s death toll remains one of the highest in the world, sick patients were discharged back into care homes at the height of the epidemic; and millions of pounds blown on useless PPE which can’t be used by NHS staff. But while it’s true that some things have gone wrong – as Boris himself has conceded – it’s also true that many of those loudly condemning Boris for the way he has dealt with the pandemic have form in criticising Boris. So are they right? And is it fair to blame Britain’s coronavirus blunders on the PM?

The UK is now fourth in the inglorious table of coronavirus deaths, with India sadly catching up fast. The United States, Brazil and Mexico have all fared worse, but then, of course, these countries are much larger. Deaths per head of population would be the more reasonable indicator, it would seem. On this measure, the UK is currently third, and the USA tenth (or respectively second and eighth, when very small countries such as Andorra and San Marino are reasonably excluded). Belgium ‘tops’ the larger nation table; Chile and Peru are, however, moving up through the top ten.

But even these population-adjusted figures are untrustworthy. There are major differences in how countries record Covid deaths – assumed diagnosis vs. proven, died with vs. died of, nursing home deaths included or excluded, home deaths counted or not, to name but four. PHE (Public Health England) counts deaths at any time after a Covid diagnosis, including deaths from unrelated causes. Germany and France include deaths in care homes; England only did so after 29 April. But Germany only counted care homes deaths when confirmed by a positive test result, while in Belgium, a clinician’s suspicion of coronavirus was sufficient, likely seriously inflating their figures.

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