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Jacob Rees-Mogg, true to his bizarre nature, has implied that “the weather” is to blame for the skyrocketing UK death toll from coronavirus. He also directed blame at “the practices of individual cultures and societies” – although he did not expand on the thesis.
This astonishing reasoning came after a different government minister drew criticism for claiming the UK was particularly vulnerable as “a global travel hub”.
Boris Johnson’s reluctance to lock down society until late March is seen by most experts as the key reason for more than 50,000 deaths, the third highest behind only the US and Brazil in a grim table, although international counting methods do vary.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said 43,230 people had now died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for the disease in the UK, as of 5pm on Wednesday.
This figure only accounts for those who have tested positive for Covid-19. The latest Office for National Statistics figures, which includes all fatalities in which Covid-19 is on the death certificate, suggests the true toll is above 54,000.
The DHSC also said in the 24-hour period up to 9am on Thursday, 167,023 tests were carried out or dispatched, with 1,118 positive results. Overall, a total of 8,710,292 tests have been carried out and 307,980 cases have been confirmed positive.
When questioned regarding that “shocking” record in the Commons, Mr Rees-Mogg said: “A wide range of factors have affected death rates in different countries.
“Even things as simple as the weather may have influenced how the virus has spread, and so may the practices of individual cultures and societies.
“I think, therefore, that these headline comparisons are not necessarily enormously illuminative.”
The prime minister has persisted in refusing to hold an independent inquiry into his handling of the pandemic, despite pleas from medical experts as well as politicians.
Should the inquiry actually take place, it would most probably concentrate on the decision not to shut borders to travellers from hotspots such as Spain, France and Italy, which had high infection rates weeks earlier.
The disgraceful failure to stockpile testing kits and personal protective equipment (PPE) in a timely manner– as well as the discharging of 25,000 untested hospital patients into care homes – would also be explored.
Mr Rees-Mogg, speaking in parliament, gave his response after Labour MP Richard Burgon demanded “a debate on comparisons with other countries’ handling of coronavirus so that we can learn from best practices”.
“Nothing highlights the deep failings in the government’s response to coronavirus like our shockingly high deaths per million rate, in comparison with that of many other countries,” Mr Burgon said.
“We are very near the top of the deaths per million table, and that is a national scandal. Our deaths per million rate is six times higher than that in Germany, 100 times higher than that in South Korea and 150 times higher than that in Australia and New Zealand.”
