2021
Volume 21, Number 1, pp. 12-17
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: Personal reflexions one year on
A. Bamji
FRCP, Retired Consultant Rheumatologist, Rye, East Sussex, England
As an interested and medically qualified observer the author has tracked the progress of the coronavirus pandemic for over a year. It is far from over but already there are questions about the handling of the problem from clinical, scientific and political perspectives. In this personal reflexion he examines some of the issues that have arisen. These include over-reliance on modeling, failure to appreciate nosocomial transmission and failure to introduce appropriate and timely treatments due to misunderstanding of the cause of severe illness and risk factors for its development. Questions remain over the accuracy of testing and the attribution of death to the virus. Major concerns are the failure of the UK government and its advisers to heed advice from external sources while relying on the wrong experts, and the inappropriate presentation of statistics. The one major success story is the rapid development and administration of vaccines as a result of good science and bypassing bureaucracy.