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‘Calm mongering’ : Constructing False Narratives about Covid-19
The ways in which the UK government, the health services and general public seem to be in complete denial about the continuing dangers posed by Covid-19 and its impacts on health, the economy and society is a key theme discussed across this website. This blog discusses a recent paper from the US which coins the Continue reading
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Ministerial Correspondence on how Covid-19 transmits:End March 2025 update
My previous blog It’s airborne: response to Ministers for Public Health discussed the saga of the correspondence between Tim Farron MP and the Minister for Public Health, until relatively recently, Andrew Gwynne. In his letter of 16/17 January Gwynne was dismissive of the need to change the IPC guidance which is based on the assumption Continue reading
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Missed Opportunities: The First Eighty Three Days of 2020
Analysis of what witnesses said at the Covid-19 inquiry and other sources suggest that Britain was ill prepared for the pandemic, and went into the first lockdown far too late, and as a result many lives were lost, the NHS more or less collapsed in the sense that staff were subjected to intolerable pressures from Continue reading
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It’s Still Airborne!
My previous post – It’s airborne – response to Minister for Public Health discussed the impasse in making headway in improving the safety of air in hospitals and other healthcare settings in order to reduce staff sickness and the number of people who get infected, sometimes dying, attending healthcare. The following quote sums up the Continue reading
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The Lingering Impacts of Covid Infections
There is now a very extensive evidence based on how Covid Infections can impact on all organs of the body as discussed in my blog on the Tragedy of Long Covid. There is also little doubt in the minds of many scientists that this is what is driving a significant proportion of the increased demand Continue reading
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HEPA Filters in Healthcare?
Despite the fact that we are in the second half of February, the entire healthcare system remains under significant pressure. This is being driven by a range of factors, but part of it is due to the numbers of people needing urgent medical help for flu, RSV and Covid-19; and there is growing evidence that Continue reading
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Midwinter Update on the Covid Inquiry and more
Covid Inquiry The last three weeks have been very busy at the inquiry with 48 witnesses plus opening and closing statements from core participants crammed into twelve and half days of hearings. Issues covered included: As usual Jim Reed has done a good job in producing weekly podcasts overviewing the proceedings – listen to podcasts Continue reading
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It’s Airborne! Response to Minister for Public Health
Update 9 February 2025. The Minister for Public Health was sacked yesterday and also suspended from the Labour Party. This was not for his stance on the airborne transmission of Covid, but for a series of offensive WhatsApp messages written in 2019. It is a remarkable coincidence, or perhaps something slightly sinister, that on Friday Continue reading
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In the Eye of the Storm
As the Covid Inquiry is about to begin module 4 hearings, and nearly two weeks into 2025, the NHS, is as predicted, overwhelmed with patients suffering from flu and other viruses and illnesses. As well as truly distressing stories from the front line this has brought the usual flurry of misinformed pieces spouting the benefits Continue reading
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Happy 2025?
The approach of the five year anniversary of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to reflect on the previous year and look forward to the new. In my blog post Happy 2024 I called for far more proactive public health communication about the dangers posed by Covid-19 and better preparedness for the Continue reading
GILLIAN SMITH About Me
I am a semi retired social researcher and have previously held a number of senior social research positions in Whitehall Departments. See an interview with me here. I live in a London suburb with my husband who has suffered multiple serious illnesses over the last few years. I myself am living with MND.
This series of blogs represent a personal, evidence based perspective based on living in the UK at a time when we are all meant to be ‘living with COVID’. Although I am a social scientist by training, I have worked closely with people from different disciplines throughout my career in order to present a complete picture of the evidence on specific policy issues. I am therefore scientifically literate but where I quote evidence based on research beyond my particular expertise it is always validated with relevant experts. I am a member of the Clinically Vulnerable Families group, though please note that the information presented here and any views expressed are my own. We are a friendly, supportive group and can be found via Facebook in private mode or in public mode via X (formerly twitter) Or BlueSky.Social
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Living on Plague Island 