Caller is "apoplectic" with Government's continuing "failure on testing"
21 October 2020, 14:30
Caller is "apoplectic" with Government's "failure" on testing
This caller tells LBC he is "apoplectic" with the Government's "failure on testing" and "wishy washy, complicated system of Tiers" when the UK is "supposed to be one of the best countries in the world."
Caller Matt from Reading told Shelagh he is "so angry with the Government" at this moment in time - in March, he felt the PM gave a "unifying" approach and was willing to allow the leaders time to tackle the pandemic.
"The thing that's made me so apoplectic is the failure on testing," Matt said, "the number of testing has improved massively since it began. The fact of the matter is the US - if you believe Trump - they now have tests that tell you if you are positive or negative within less than 15 minutes.
"We don't have that. We've just started to roll something out now after months, but we are supposed to be one of the best countries in the world. And we haven't even got a test that can tell you a result in a workable period of time in order to decide whether you're safe to go to work or not - and that's not for everybody."
The caller said he was also "speechless" at the way the Test and Trace has been handled, suggesting military personnel not on active deployment should have been enrolled to do this instead of handing it over to a private company.
How does an area in a tier 3 lockdown get out of those restrictions?
He pointed out that the "wonderful military" built the Nightingale hospitals in no time at all.
"The whole thing has been so badly managed, now we're going into this wishy washy, complicated system of Tiers. I don't exactly know what's going on anymore, the message has become so complex and confused," Matt said, "all I'm doing now is saying I'm just going to wear a mask and not to go out when I don't need to.
"It's just got ridiculous."
Shelagh acknowledged that while we will never know whether Labour would have made different decisions generally, she believes Labour would have chosen to use the "pre-existing and cash starved" public health infrastructure.
"They've given billions of pounds' worth of contracts without tender to people who have some very very interesting links to members in the top echelons of the Conservative Party, that's on public record...what have we got to show for it?" Matt said.
Matt pointed out that he is blind and there is no accessible Covid test that he can do himself and he also cannot get to a testing centre: "What am I supposed to do?"
He said that having a rapid result Covid test that he can show to someone on Whatsapp for example is not possible.
