Earlier and more decisive action over second lockdown would have saved lives and jobs - YEP letters

This second lockdown was introduced too late and is resulting in the economy suffering more damage, coinciding with traders needing to make the money that sees them through the lean months.

Many people have lost their jobs because Chancellor Sunak reintroduced the furlough scheme too late and others fall through the gaps he has left. The tragedy of the deaths, that need not have happened had the second lockdown taken place when the Government was advised and encouraged to do so, is a catastrophic failure. Early and decisive action would have saved lives and jobs.

Prime Minister Johnson’s promised “world beating” tracing system is failing in areas with the worst infection rates. Allowing the private contractors to use the name NHS on its shabby products hides the blame, it is not one whole service that is part of the NHS.

The Test, Track and Trace setup has bypassed some of the local expertise available in the NHS, universities and councils. Some of the logistics were already in place and were ignored, instead something new, shiny, poor and expensive was patched together by several companies. The tracing and isolating is not good enough.

Two months ago SAGE called for a brief national circuit breaker, to bring Covid under control. Then there were 5,594 new cases, 368 people in hospital and 28 new deaths.

Last week there were 20,252 new cases, 16,444 people in hospital and 511 deaths. Facts matter. As individuals we must all look after ourselves, our families, colleagues and friends - but we need better leadership.