Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: UK likely to be worst hit in Europe, says science adviser

Politicians might usually expect a weekend off from interview duties over the Easter weekend, but tradition is hardly the order of the day at present. The Business Secretary Alok Sharma joined Sophy Ridge to discuss the government’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis at a sombre time, with the total number of fatalities soon expected to pass 10,000. Today, the Royal College of Nursing has issued guidance advising that nurses should refuse to treat patients with coronavirus if they do not have sufficient personal protective equipment available to them. Sharma defended the government’s record on PPE:

Sharma said: 

No medical professional should be placed in a position where they have to make that choice… We are making sure that we get PPE to the front line… We’ve made sure that there is a huge distribution network that’s now been set up so that over 700 million pieces of protective equipment have been distributed over the last few weeks.

Government ‘needs to do even more’

Ridge pressed Sharma for an apology on behalf of the government for those health and social care workers who had not received adequate PPE at various points during the crisis. Her request comes after an apology made yesterday by the Home Secretary Priti Patel was felt by many to fall short of accepting responsibility. Sharma did not apologise for that specifically, but suggested that the government would be increasing its efforts on this front:

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