BroadwaybabytoWhenever I catch up on the UK Covid inquiry - I’m horrified by how much denial and ignorance is on display.
By the fact that they’re discussing the death and disability of millions - yet continue to refer to the pandemic in the past tense.
The only mask I’ve seen was on Cathy Finnis - a clinically vulnerable patient who testified as to how difficult it is to access safe care. No one else in the room masked to protect HER.
Perhaps the most galling example of denial is this video of Matt Hancock - where he talks about the importance of vaccination because without it healthcare workers may unintentionally infect someone in their care.
They’re literally infecting people in their care now. The NHS has discouraged healthcare workers from testing - and IF they do test positive they don’t have to isolate. There’s no requirement to test negative before returning to work. They can treat patients knowing they have covid - and they aren’t even required to wear a respirator.
Hospital acquired covid has a 10% fatality rate and yet many facilities are doing absolutely nothing to protect the most vulnerable among us.
Patients like me didn’t ask to be clinically vulnerable. We didn’t get a choice in being high risk. We can’t “stay home” from the hospital. We go for life saving care - only to have our lives and baselines put at risk because no one is mitigating the spread of Covid.
It would be so easy to mandate masks in healthcare. To upgrade air quality and ventilation to reduce the spread. To have regular testing and ensure those who are positive are isolated.
They just don’t want to. We’re acceptable losses. Expendable. Not worthy of protection.
After all - how many times have we heard “only the vulnerable are at risk” as a means of justifying a whole host of risky and unjustifiable behaviour?
At this point I find it hard to say that infecting patients is “unintentional”. I desperately want to give people the benefit of the doubt - but we are five years into this and we KNOW it’s airborne.
If you’re working in healthcare and choosing not to test, isolate or mask - is it unintentional when you infect a patient? Or inevitable?
These questions keep me up at night.
I feel absolutely sick knowing people like me can no longer access safe healthcare. I feel deep unyielding pain when I think of all those we’ve already lost. I feel anger and rage when I consider how easy it would be to change course - and how few people care enough to even bother to try.
We can do better. We must do better. We all share the air - we’re not safe until everyone is safe.
#ukcovidinquiry #masksinhealthcare #sarscov2 #pandemic #covidisairborne #covidisnotover #keepmasksinhealthcare #WearARespie #ableism #eugenics #disability #clinicallyvulnerable #LongCOVID #chronicillness
SubtleBlade ⚔️
TriciaB
Su Butcher
Clinically Vulnerable Families
Clean Air Classrooms UK
