Footage shows then-CMO discussing NHS overwhelmed by ‘excess bodies’ and unable to cope in 2016 exercise – and said that exercise portrayed ‘mild’ pandemic. Tory governments spent the next four years doing nothing – and even allowing meagre stockpiles of protective equipment to go out of date
Video footage has emerged of the UK’s Chief Medical Officer describing the results of the UK government’s 2016 pandemic dry run – Exercise Cygnus – and her horrifying findings.
Sally Davies is seen speaking of an NHS overwhelmed and unable to cope with the ‘excess bodies’ of people killed by a simulated pandemic far less serious and infectious than COVID-19 – and admitting that the exercise had exposed serious weaknesses in the UK’s readiness to cope.
Yet the Tories did nothing with this knowledge for four years.
Cygnus simulated a simple flu pandemic that infected only half of the UK population – yet it resulted in 200-400,000 deaths.
And when Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock knew the coronavirus was approaching the UK, they again did nothing – nothing except boast about how well-prepared they were. Two more months were wasted – a delay that experts think will add 60,000 to the total of needless deaths.
The UK’s inadequate stocks of out-of-date protective equipment for front-line staff were not replaced, let alone built up – nor were ventilators ordered and built until long after the crisis had taken hold in this country.
Boris Johnson talked of ‘taking it on the chin‘, while his advisers told the media the plan was for 60% or more – not the 50% of Cygnus – to become infected with the virus in the pursuit of ‘herd immunity‘. Even that number was understated – health experts say 90-95% of the population needs to have antibodies for herd immunity to work.
The Tories did everything they could to ensure the spread of the virus before they were forced to be more subtle. The huge Cheltenham racing festival was allowed to proceed and thousands of football fans from Madrid – forbidden to attend games in their own country – were allowed to flood into Liverpool.
And the NHS has only been ‘saved’ from utter chaos by the Tories’ belated decision to ‘flatten the curve’ – not eliminate, just slow down.
So great was Johnson’s commitment to letting the infection run rampant that he ignored World Health Organisation advice – and sent infected elderly people to die in care homes and infect their fellow residents, costing tens of thousands more lives.
Yet the media continues to give Boris Johnson barely-challenged airtime to claim ‘success‘ – while the UK has become the second-worst-hit country in the world, by a huge distance and the number of NHS staff killed by the virus has exceeded two hundred.
And now, in the midst of ongoing carnage and scenes of bank holiday chaos, Johnson wants to ease the lock-down.
Watch the damning footage below – and then share widely to counter the lies:
Credit to Harry Lambert of the New Statesman for the original video find.
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