Health expert brands UK "second rate country" for coronavirus response

19 April 2020, 12:03

Professor John Ashton "This is a dark day for the UK"

Comparing the UK's response to that of Germany, Denmark and Taiwan, this expert claimed that the UK is now a "second rate country".

Professor John Ashton is a former president of the Faculty of Public Health and former regional director of public health for the North West of England. He joined Andrew Castle to criticise the government's response to coronavirus.

Andrew took exception to how Professor Ashton was attempting to "single out our government" on their Covid-19 response, asking "how could anybody have gotten this right".

Professor Ashton claimed there is an array of nations that have tackled coronavirus effectively and that after the UK government's response, Brits are "being asked to accept second or third or fourth best".

"Here we are, looking like a second rate nation" the public health expert claimed.

Andrew argued that "the NHS has coped" this far in the crisis and should be seen as proof the UK has done a great job.

Professor Ashton disagreed, pointing out that "a lot of people aren't going to hospital" because the NHS has adapted a model of only treating people in hospital that definitely cannot be treated at home.

He pointed out how our numbers of deaths have been inaccurate so far too, pointing out "a lot of people are dying at home and those numbers are not being counted"

Andrew pushed the expert, asking where the blame for the ineffective action lies. Professor Ashton claimed that "the failure of government to act decisively in the early days has cost lives".

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