Plan B hesitancy over virus is reckless – The Yorkshire Post says

HOW many lives will be lost, and how many additional patients will be hospitalised, as a result of the Government’s reluctance to impose plan B in order to contain the Covid pandemic through the critical winter months?
Why are Tory MPs reluctant to wear face masks in crowded settings like the House of Commons?Why are Tory MPs reluctant to wear face masks in crowded settings like the House of Commons?
Why are Tory MPs reluctant to wear face masks in crowded settings like the House of Commons?

These fundamental questions continue to be ignored by Boris Johnson and Sajid Javid at their peril as NHS leaders demand action to prevent hospitals being over-run as new cases near 100,000 a day.

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They clearly view the mere mention of plan B, and the return of tighter rules governing the use of face masks in indoor locations, as an act of weakness when, in fact, its deployment would be viewed as a prudent precaution.

This was Boris Johnson wearing a face mask last year as he left Downing Street.This was Boris Johnson wearing a face mask last year as he left Downing Street.
This was Boris Johnson wearing a face mask last year as he left Downing Street.

An escalation of the risk – and Covid, let it be remembered, remains a public health emergency like no other – would also remind the wider public that this is not a time for complacency and importance of hand sanitisation, and other protective measures, while the rollout of the vaccine programme, booster jabs and winter flu inoculations is ramped up.

Yet how can Ministers expect families to behave responsibly when so few Tory MPs lead by example and wear face masks during sittings of the House of Commons? Though Theresa May and Jason McCartney, the Colne Valley, are honourable exceptions, the bravado of Tory MPs, urged on by Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg, appears increasingly recklessness and irresponsible.

For, unless the Government is careful, plan B itself could be out of date and a plan C required by the time the Prime Minister realises, yet again, that he’s been too slow to react to the need to keep Covid in check.

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