A grandson whose grandmother died of Covid in a nursing home claims the leaked news about Matt Hancock’s handling of the pandemic was “a slap in the heart”.
Amos Waldman’s grandmother, Sheila Lamb, died at a north London nursing home on 2 April 2020 after being admitted to the hospital in early March. He made additional statements about how Hancock handled the pandemic, published Telegraphwere “sad, angry” and “frankly, I was sick.”
The newspaper disclosed more than 100,000 WhatsApp messages between Mr Hancock and other officials and ministers during the pandemic. The newspaper claims that Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, told Mr Hancock on April 8, 2020, that “nursing home testing” should be done for all residents and staff.
On April 14, he printed a news story in which Mr. Hancock initially called it a “good positive move” but appeared to change his mind the same day, saying that testing should be limited to those who leave and are in nursing homes. for nursing homes, it’s “muddy water.”
Mr Waldman said I revelations is a “kick in the gut”.
He said: “He claimed to be following science, he claimed to put a protective ring on nursing homes, and every time he stood up and said that he put a protective ring on nursing homes, it was a blatant slap in the face to everyone who really lost. in a nursing home.”
Mr Waldman said his grandmother was 94 when she died and was mentally sharp as a razor, but she developed classic symptoms of Covid-19 shortly after the illness, according to the latest death records.
When the nursing home closed, Mrs. Lamb died alone – only three family members were able to attend the funeral; the rest had to be viewed through zoom.
He said if the reports are true, they will raise additional questions that will need to be answered in the public inquiry into Covid-19.
Mr Waldman, a member of Covid-19 Bereaved for Justice, said: “This highlights the need for a transparent and fair investigation so that people like my grandmother, who ended up in a nursing home in court and died a few weeks later, are not involved with people. Lessons need to be learned, and that didn’t happen.”
The grandson was also hurt. TelegraphMr Hancock has set a goal of 100,000 Covid-19 tests a day, rather than expanding nursing home testing.
A WhatsApp messaging revealed that the official recommended that Mr. Hancock prioritize testing asymptomatic staff and residents of nursing homes that have reported an outbreak in the last 14 days, which would require 60,000 tests to be carried out in 2,000 homes over the next 10 days…
Mr. Hancock seems to answer, “That’s fine, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the actual execution of the test cases.”
Mr Waldman said it suggested the former health secretary “has put his ego and vanity ahead of people’s lives.”
David Garfinkel, whose 76-year-old father Ivor died in August 2021, said WhatsApp messages confirmed what people had long known about the mishandling of the pandemic.
“It’s a cacophony of bad decisions and political expediency in terms of public health and safety,” said Garfinkel, who is also a member of Covid-19 Families for Justice.
Mr Garfinkel said he struggled to treat his father in a London hospital after contracting Covid-19. He had been in the emergency room weeks earlier but was discharged by a doctor who said he was fine, Mr. Garfinkel said.
His father died three weeks after Boris Johnson declared “Freedom Day” with the vast majority of remaining Covid restrictions lifted on July 19, 2021, despite warnings from some public health experts that it was too early to reopen.
Revisiting the grief of these situations through “revelation after revelation” was “destructive,” Mr. Garfinkel said, but the families’ stories needed to be heard. “We need to make sure something like this never happens again,” he added.
Charitable organizations and initiative groups told the story I that the revelations mean that the relatives of nursing home residents deserve an apology.
Diane Mayhew, co-founder of Rights for Residents, said the messages “add salt to already open wounds.”
“People are still suffering from this scandal, and then to find out that much of the suffering could have been prevented? This is just unreal. I think the family members deserve at least an apology from him. [Matt Hancock] and by the government because the warnings were clearly given or they were ignored.
Helen Wildbour, executive director of the Relatives and Residents Association, said the recent announcements about testing advice “have been so distressing to the thousands of people who have lost a loved one.”
“We already knew that the ring of protection that the government supposedly put on care does not exist, and this further contradicts this ring of protection.
“And also to hear from the government that they knew that isolating people from their families is inhumane, it becomes so painful and so upsetting for the people we supported, who already knew it was inhumane, and that is why we started our campaign. end healthcare lockdown this summer.”
Referring to statements about Covid nursing home testing, Mr Hancock’s spokesman said Telegraph Details of the key meeting where he was told that expanding testing capacity was “not feasible” have been omitted.
The spokesman says: “We didn’t apply in advance telegraphWe checked the posts at night. Telegraph The link to the meeting with the test team is intentionally excluded from WhatsApp.
“This is very important as Matt supported Chris Whitty’s advice, held a meeting about getting him delivered, said it was not possible and insisted that everyone leaving the hospitals be screened.
“Telegraph found out that their title is wrong and Matt is looking at all the options available.
“This big mistake by Isabelle Oakeshott and Telegraph shows why the appropriate place for such analysis is an investigation rather than a partial leak of confidential documents.
The speaker described it telegraph’s as “a biased report on the pandemic, fueled by partial leaks, skewed to fit the anti-lockdown agenda.”
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.