Boris Johnson spreads Covid-19 confusion in the UK

It may be little consolation for South Africans as Covid-19 infections surge, but by comparison with Britain, at least President Cyril Ramaphosa and Health Minister Zweli Mkhize have been decisive in their actions and consistent in their messages.

As they enforce new regulations that facemasks must be worn in shops, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his ministers have been spreading confusion.

In England, pubs opened while schools remained shut.

Children in Wales returned safely to school a month ago, but in England, the government cannot even guarantee that will happen in September 2020. 

Theatres and concert halls are unable to open, but passengers can spend hours crammed together in aeroplanes.

You can take an overnight ferry from Portsmouth or Plymouth to Spain, but not a cruise around the UK.

England’s test-and-trace system – “world-beating”, according to Johnson – is contacting far less than 80% of the close contacts of infected people, in Luton, just 47% and in re-lockdowned Leicester, under 65%.

Johnson won’t answer this key question: Why does Germany, a similar north European country with an even larger population, have so many fewer deaths and infections than the UK which has one of the very worst records in the world? DM

Lord Peter Hain is a former anti-apartheid leader and British Cabinet Minister.