Spinning the coronavirus stats will not save a single life – it’s time the government understood that

Editorial: Not only does it offer a misleading picture, but it also encourages a complacent mindset, making the public distrustful as the reality of unpreparedness unfolds

Thus far, the public seems content to give the government the benefit of the doubt on the way it has handled the coronavirus outbreak. The Conservatives boast a 26 percentage point lead over Labour in the latest poll, and the public is mostly complying with instructions. However, as is apparent from the pace of events in recent weeks, this is a fast-moving story, and sentiment could shift radically. The government needs to be careful to get the balance right between offering false hope and spreading panic.

So there should be no more confusion and obfuscation about the national failure to test people, especially NHS staff, for Covid-19. Ministers might have made an honest mistake when they mixed up the current “capacity” for coronavirus testing – 10,000 per day – with the number of tests conducted, the last official toll being 8,278. The statistical effort plainly needs some streamlining and consistency, especially as new metrics are introduced and the sheer volume of cases causes new reporting lags.

More broadly, there are still no satisfactory answers as to why the current testing rate in Britain (about 35,000 per week) or the target for a few weeks’ time (to 25,000 per day or 175,000 per week) remain so far below the present German rate of 500,000 per week, even allowing for population differences. Meanwhile, the level of testing for priority NHS staff remains pitifully and dangerously low.

Spinning the stats will not save a single life. Worse, it offers a misleading picture, encourages a complacent mindset and makes the public distrustful as the reality of unpreparedness becomes more obvious. It is doubly disturbing, then, that pressure is being put on health professionals to suppress the truth about the lack of vital equipment. Now, of all times, whistleblowers should be provided with real protection to highlight the biggest life-threatening faults. Indeed there should be rewards for doing so.

Transparency and context are essential to the public understanding of the crisis and to win their consent for the lockdown. If it turns out they have been misled and the lives of loved ones lost because some politicians just can’t shake off some old bad habits, the anger will be real and destructive. As the prime minister says, they must level with the public.