At Prime Minister's Question Time this afternoon, Labour Party Leader, Keir Starmer, pulled Boris Johnson up over the absolute scandal that saw Leicester's huge cases of coronavirus get hidden in half-story figures produced by Public Health England... "The local authority thought there were eighty positive tests in the last fortnight when the real figure was 944" he said, adding that there was a "lost week" while the virus was spreading.
"There are now real fears of further local lockdowns across the country" he insisted asking "Can the Prime Minister give a cast iron guarantee today that no other local authority will ever be put in that position again?"
Johnson's response was that Starmer was "mistaken...both Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 data has been shared, er, not just with Leicester but with all authorities across the country..."
Who is telling the truth? And is there any truth left to tell? For months, the Salford Star has been passing on data of cases from official Public Health England statistics, which only told half a story. The numbers are based on Pillar 1 cases (tests from hospital and key workers processed in public labs), and did not include numbers of so-called 'Pillar 2' cases (tests from drive-throughs and home testing processed in private labs). This is a national scandal.
Today, Public Health England has released a bulletin for Week 25 data 15th-21st June - which includes Pillar 2 statistics. In terms of cumulative cases (total to date) the infographic shows a scary picture of the worst rates concentrated almost exclusively in the north of England and in Greater Manchester local authority areas near Salford, with Rochdale, Tameside and Oldham amongst the worst, showing over 600 cases per 100,000 population.
On these Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 figures, Salford has between 442 and 501 cases per 100,000 population, compared to previous estimates of 387 cases per 100,000 population low-ish but it is still higher than most of the south of the country.
On coronavirus cases for Week 25 alone, including Pillar 1 and Pillar 2, Salford is showing between 10 and 15 cases per 100,000, when the Salford Star reported seven cases during this period based on Public Health England data. With over 250,000 population in Salford there could have been above thirty confirmed cases that week, rather than the seven reported.
It is shocking in the extreme. But now that Boris Johnson has confirmed that in future such data will be shared with local councils 'at a postcode level' will Salford Council be sharing this information with the public and press?
Salford Council's record so far has been appalling. For example, the Council knew how many children were going to school, or not going, after the wider re-opening but never told its own community what was going on.
A Council report to a Scrutiny Committee this afternoon stated that 'behind the scenes', it has been 'building an intelligence platform' delivering a 'multiple insights dashboard' for its senior team "to view data on COVID-19 cases, shielded/vulnerable households, deaths in the city, staffing levels, school attendance and requests coming into our help hub"...has it shared this information? Not a scrap of it!
This was the only report in writing at the so-called 'Scrutiny Board' other reports on budgets, the workforce and the 'digital response' were not published.
Meanwhile, at a Salford and Manchester National Union of Journalists remote meeting this afternoon, members agreed there was a wall of silence from health authorities and public officials, making journalists' jobs of holding bodies up to account and getting accurate information in this crisis increasingly more difficult.
As so-called 'Super Saturday' on July 4th draws near, with more shops and bars opening, the community needs to know what the real picture is, so that behaviour can be moderated accordingly.
All we know is that there are a lot more confirmed cases than the authorities have been letting on, never mind those with the virus who have not been tested. It's a shocking national and local scandal that begs the question 'What else aren't they telling us?'
There is now a petition on 38 Degrees urging Public Health England to 'Release daily COVID-19 Pillar 2 stats' - to read and sign it - click here
Main graphic shows cumulative cases of COVID-19 including Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 data
Update: 2nd July - Salford Pillar 1 and 2 data magically appears after yesterday's hidden figures debacle. Meanwhile, more outbreaks being reported in schools nationally than hospitals - click here
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