Further to the letter by Prof Robert Dingwall saying that we had a pandemic plan but didn’t use it (8 November), we also had an infrastructure ready to cope with a pandemic at local level.
Public health officers (PHOs) are highly trained to deal with outbreaks of disease. It was pointed out very early in the pandemic by a PHO that Covid would only be effectively controlled at local level because of the multiple factors influencing spread. This turned out to be correct, especially where domestic and cultural practices prevailed in spite of advice and regulation.
