A DOCTOR working on the frontline in Oxford has condemned the Government for being ‘multiple steps behind’ in its pandemic response.

Dr Hosnieh Djafari-Marbini, who works as an anaesthetist at the Churchill Hospital, said: "The determination with which our local NHS staff have addressed problems to treat our patients, always one step ahead of the constantly changing circumstances – from estates refashioning walls to lab technicians ramping up testing facilities – has been in sharp contrast to the national response."

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The doctor, who is also a Labour city councillor, said the Government had been 'multiple steps behind' the virus exemplified by the 'farcical and tragic situation' of sending children back into schools for one day to mix prior to announcing lockdown and 'unleashing the stress' of online lessons for teachers and parents.

Dr Djafari-Marbini added: "The constant delays are fuelled by the Government refusing to acknowledge that our health and economic prosperity are two sides of the same coin.

" Let’s hope by the time the lockdown is at an end, that not only have we learnt to keep the virus down but that our wellbeing and finances are inherently linked and only as safe as our most vulnerable neighbour's."

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