#SackWhitty seems to be trending. It's time to remind you that Whitty has been both working on the wards and leading the UK science response alongside SAGE. It's not his fault that politicians have gotten in the way. Blaming him allows the government to get away with negligence

Like any healthcare professional, I have been quizzical over certain decisions, but I doubt that Whitty has been the problem. We are led by science, but politics delays the response. We should have locked down earlier, opened later, and been more restrictive.
The #eatouttohelpout campaign was a political exercise that led to disaster. The Tier system was recognised early as a bad idea. The push from scientists and medical teams has always been to lock down earlier, restrict more. This is not nice, but nescessary.
It has been Johnson and Co who have delayed everything, tried to have their cake and eat it, sold PPI contracts and track and trace to cronies and friends. It has been certain pundits and commentators that have denied the outbreaks and slowed responses and sowed doubt.
The government will look for a scapegoat, and now they don't have the EU they will blame the 'experts' as per the brexit scheme, no blame can reflect on themselves. Note how this works, if they can't blame Whitty they will blame immigrants and mental health.
Its always the same, blame the 'undesireables' (as defined by them.) This government has always drawn a line between white English middle class/working class and everyone else, including immigrants and the sick. They added experts when the experts called it out.
One christmas Whitty, along with thousands, worked on the wards. What did the politicians do? Whitty stood before millions trying to help whilst balancing the political idiocy of the PM next to him. Whitty should not be sacked, he should be knighted.
So if you see this #, consider why. Is it really the consultant medic following science who is the problem, or the etonian sycophants who hold the finances offshore, who deport nationalised immigrants, who sneered at Grenfell victims, and whose mates made millions from contracts?
COVID19 is a harsh reality. We need to lock down, we need to be conservative, but not misled by The Conservatives. I would not have an issue with the party if they were sensible. It's always been about holding their image of strength, and it's been their weakness.
It is not weak to lockdown over a virus. It is not weak to use a mask, social distance or prioritise urgent care. These are the actions of a society that respects reality and their duty to each other, not to their own ego or the pockets of mansion owners.
So, in summary, #sackwhitty is a trick, a rouse and a cowardly act. Do not fall for it.
And ask yourself one question, that should give you the answer.

During a novel virus pandemic where the data changes daily, early recognition of the virus and sensible and life-saving countermeasures are needed, who do you trust more?

I know my answer, what's yours?
Oh and before you ask

1) I am not paid by pharma
2) I am a mental health doctor, employed by NHS
3) I have no financial interest in vaccines
4) My motivation is to stop people dying.
5) I make no money by tweeting this
6) Politics < science, and that's the issue.

More from Science

An interesting thing about carp is that they can go into anoxic hibernation and switch to an anaerobic metabolism based on converting glycogen to ethanol.

The waste ethanol is diffused out the gills

https://t.co/V3D1umHf04

Carp can switch over to an anaerobic metabolism and quietly exhale booze until the situation gets better.

They basically evolved the same metabolic pathway as yeast, independently.

In theory, if you spent a few thousand years breeding carp for it, you could use them to make booze.

They'd be enormous, almost entirely glycogen deposits with a fish added as an afterthought.

The really interesting thing about anaerobic carp, is that they can go 4-5 months without oxygen by relying on liver glycogen.

You, a human, have only about 100 grams of glycogen in your liver, about 400 more grams in your skeletal muscles. Call it 500 grams total.

In humans, glycogen is also burned for energy. This is where the marathon runner's bonk comes from: you only have about 2,000 calories worth, and running a marathon burns those 2,000 calories.
JUST ONE PERSON—UK 🇬🇧 scientists think one immunocompromised person who cleared virus slowly & only partially wiped out an infection, leaving behind genetically-hardier viruses that rebound & learn how to survive better. That’s likely how #B117 started. 🧵 https://t.co/bMMjM8Hiuz


2) The leading hypothesis is that the new variant evolved within just one person, chronically infected with the virus for so long it was able to evolve into a new, more infectious form.

same thing happened in Boston in another immunocompromised person that was sick for 155 days.

3) What happened in Boston with one 45 year old man who was highly infectious for 155 days straight before he died... is exactly what scientists think happened in Kent, England that gave rise to #B117.


4) Doctors were shocked to find virus has evolved many different forms inside of this one immunocompromised man. 20 new mutations in one virus, akin to the #B117. This is possibly how #B1351 in South Africa 🇿🇦 and #P1 in Brazil 🇧🇷 also evolved.


5) “On its own, the appearance of a new variant in genomic databases doesn’t tell us much. “That’s just one genome amongst thousands every week. It wouldn’t necessarily stick out,” says Oliver Pybus, a professor of evolution and infectious disease at Oxford.

You May Also Like