Science & Technology,Social IssuesMAY 12, 2020

ICU Consultant Takes To Social Media To Explain The Consequences Of Lifting The Lockdown For A Street Party

One senior NHS consultant in Cambridgeshire has condemned a VE Day (Victory in Europe day) street party in Cosham, Portsmouth, UK. The VE Day celebrations in Cosham were captured on live TV, prompting harsh criticism from healthcare officials.

The party, which was broadcast by the BBC, appeared to break social distancing rules. This has angered Dr. Andrew Conway Morris, an intensive care consultant at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, who took to Twitter to criticize the apparent breach of the rules of quarantine. "'We have 4,000 spare ventilators, we can lift the lockdown for a street party.’ Can I stop you there⁠—it's nonsense and perhaps I can explain why (being an ICU consultant and all that)," the ICU consultant stated in a series of tweets.

The specialist argues that the UK is facing a lack of high-quality ventilators intended to deal with coronavirus patients in intensive care units. By saying this, he expresses that the country simply cannot afford to throw such social events where there is a great risk of the virus spreading.

Andy Conway Morris, who is also a senior research associate at the University of Cambridge, also claimed that there is a shortage of specialists who are able to operate said ventilators.

More info: Twitter

This ICU consultant took to Twitter to criticize the apparent breach of lockdown rules in the UK

Image credits: andymoz78

BBC, the news outlet that broadcast the street party, has since received backlash for "normalizing" such events. However, its spokesman told The Evening Standard that people were keeping the necessary distance between themselves and that “perspectives on camera can sometimes be deceiving.” He also said that those who were close to each other came from the same family. “It is not for BBC News to instruct people how they should behave and our presence at this event was only to report on what was already taking place,” the spokesman added.