{"id":1157709,"date":"2021-12-26T14:04:14","date_gmt":"2021-12-26T19:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1157709"},"modified":"2021-12-26T14:04:16","modified_gmt":"2021-12-26T19:04:16","slug":"deception-or-incompetence-uk-health-chief-under-fire-over-dodgy-analysis-of-coronavirus-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/deception-or-incompetence-uk-health-chief-under-fire-over-dodgy-analysis-of-coronavirus-data\/","title":{"rendered":"Deception or Incompetence? UK Health Chief Under Fire Over &#039;Dodgy&#039; Analysis of Coronavirus Data"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdeception-or-incompetence-uk-health-chief-under-fire-over-dodgy-analysis-of-coronavirus-data%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1157709&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1215184736-1-e1640527520456-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">A UK government health chief has come under heavy fire in a generally government-loyal broadsheet newspaper over her controversial analysis of Chinese coronavirus hospitalisation data.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Jenny Harries, the chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), has drawn scrutiny over her \u201cdodgy\u201d description of COVID hospitalisation data provided to UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Harries is believed to have been the source for the idea that there is typically a&nbsp;17-day lag between being infected with the coronavirus and being hospitalised with the disease, a claim that was later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2021\/12\/18\/should-respond-early-omicron-trends\/\">used<\/a> by the Health Secretary to make a case for further lockdown restrictions.<\/p>\n<p>However, according to a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/politics\/2021\/12\/25\/dodgy-data-used-push-tighter-covid-restrictions\/\">report<\/a> by the&nbsp;<em>The Telegraph<\/em>, the 17-day figure given by Harries has been criticised as being \u201cgenerous\u201d, with officials at the&nbsp;UKHSA telling the typically government-friendly broadsheet that the current lag between infection and hospitalisation is believed to be approximately 12 days.<\/p>\n<p>The disputed claim made by Mr Javid was widely seen as an attempt to strengthen the case for urgent new COVID-19 restrictions, on the basis that the country could be on the brink of a major spike in hospitalisations due to the omicron variant of the virus.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ons.gov.uk\/peoplepopulationandcommunity\/healthandsocialcare\/conditionsanddiseases\/articles\/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveytechnicalarticle\/wavesandlagsofcovid19inenglandjune2021\">Data<\/a> from the government\u2019s Office for National Statistics (ONS) has also cast doubt on the 17-day lag, with <a href=\"https:\/\/simonbriscoeblog.wordpress.com\/2021\/12\/20\/was-javid-given-dodgy-data\/\">analysis<\/a> conducted by former treasury statistician&nbsp;Simon Briscoe suggesting that the delay between infection and hospitalisation stands at an average of ten days.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on the discrepancy, Briscoe called the use of the \u201cdodgy\u201d 17-day figure as either a \u201cdeliberate statistical sleight of hand designed to deceive, or incompetence\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Briscoe went on to say that if the move was deliberate, it would suggest that the government was \u201cin effect trying to buy time, as officials realise that data of rising hospitalisations is needed to justify lockdown.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe difference of a week in the lag between infection and hospitalisation is important because if you believe the ONS numbers, you would already expect hospitalisations to be picking up rather more sharply than they are,\u201d Briscoe said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHospitalisations will need to be above (probably well above) the averages of recent months to justify lockdown,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cCould it just be the case that hospitalisations, serious illness and deaths are not following the cases figure upwards, as happened in South Africa?\u201d Briscoe went on to ask.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">UK to Consider Imposing New Lockdown Rules as Early as Next Week: Report<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BcsJ4ID0fj\">https:\/\/t.co\/BcsJ4ID0fj<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1474817220282773505?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 25, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Harries is not the only government scientist to come under fire in recent days.<\/p>\n<p>The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) \u2014 which advises the government in relation to the Chinese Coronavirus \u2014 was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/12\/25\/uk-to-consider-imposing-new-lockdown-rules-as-early-as-next-week-report\/\">accused<\/a> of publishing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2021\/12\/24\/omicron-still-serious-threat-despite-reduced-hospital-risk-expert\/\">doomsday<\/a> predicting material over recently released modelling.<\/p>\n<p>SAGE modelling predicted that hospitalisations due to the omicron variant could hit 10,000 a day in the UK, while daily deaths could range from 600 to as high as 6,000.<\/p>\n<p>Senior Conservative backbencher&nbsp;Sir Charles Walker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/12\/25\/uk-to-consider-imposing-new-lockdown-rules-as-early-as-next-week-report\/\">criticised<\/a> the use of \u201cultra-worst case scenario modelling\u201d by government experts, saying that it has undermined public trust in science and scientists.<\/p>\n<p>Harries herself also drew criticism as being \u201ctoo gloomy\u201d, to which she insisted that her stance was justified as omicron is a \u201cserious threat\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo those who know me know I\u2019m a naturally optimistic individual, so I usually hang on to the positives,\u201d Harries <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2021\/12\/24\/omicron-still-serious-threat-despite-reduced-hospital-risk-expert\/\">said<\/a>. \u201cBut I think what we\u2019ve seen with omicron is something really quite unusual.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A UK government health chief has come under heavy fire in a generally government-loyal broadsheet newspaper over her controversial analysis of Chinese coronavirus hospitalisation data. Dr Jenny Harries, the chief &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":297,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1157709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/297"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1157709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1157709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1157709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1157709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}