Thu 7 May 2020, 04:25 AM | Posted by editor
LETTER from Mark Langabeer, Newton Abbot Labour member
Panorama’s investigative reporter, Justin Rowlett, asked a variety of experts about the prospect of life returning to normal. The programme, entitled, When will it be safe, interviewed a family with a 5-year old who has leukaemia. They were fearful that their child would be vulnerable to the virus and wish to remain in lockdown until it is safe to resume a normal life.
Professor Sarah Gilbert of the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, was hopeful that a vaccine could be found by the autumn. Vaccines normally take years before they are available for general use, so clearly there are no quick fixes in the ongoing pandemic.
Trials are taking place for new drugs that could help to reduce mortality rates among those that have contracted the virus. There are around 5,000 people undergoing trials, but it would take a year before they could be rolled out to all. Trials are also taking place with drugs used for other medical conditions
Drugs already available might help
Professor Peter Hornby, from the emerging infectious diseases departement of Oxford University believed that testing drugs for HIV, Malaria and anti-inflammatory drugs might help those with coronavirus and they have the advantage of being already available. However, he stated, there is no silver bullet with these trials.
The other important means of reducing the spread of the virus is contact-tracing and mass testing. It is thought that the ability of South Korea and Germany to test on a large scale has kept mortality rates low in comparison with other nations. Social distancing was vital suppress the virus.
Professor Beale Kempman of the Vaccine Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said there is no certainly of immunity after contracting Covid-19 or how long immunity would last. Paul Nurse, Nobel prize winner and Director of the Francis Crick Institute, believed that science will defeat this virus, also believed there were no quick solutions. Rowlett pointed out that the economy was tanking and unemployment on a scale not seen since the 80s looms large. Every time you look at the BBC texting service, falls in sales reach record levels. Car Sales are at their lowest level since 1949.The prospect of the deepest downturn in living memory is a driver for ending the lockdown.
Lifting the lockdown
Lifting the lockdown could result in a new upsurge in contracting the virus. The Government are seeking to relax rules on social distancing on public transport. The unions are opposed unless appropriate PPE is provided to staff and passengers. Social distancing is not possible in much of the hospitality sector.
Many people have referred to the crises as a war. Rowlett suggests that we should know our enemy (Covid-19). A war requires planning, but as a socialist MP once pointed out, “you can’t plan what you don’t control, and you can’t control what you don’t own”. Labour should demand the public ownership of the top 100 companies as the most just way of solving this crisis.
The programme can be seen on BBC i-player, here
