A whistleblower NHS healthcare assistant who publicly resigned after claiming she had 'no work for three weeks' at the height of the pandemic has said the claim the NHS is overrun is 'all lies.'
A viral Facebook video shows Shelley Tasker, 43 - a healthcare assistant at Treliske hospital, which is part of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust - telling members of the public what is 'really going on' behind closed doors in NHS hospitals.
In the clip filmed outside Truro Cathedral with a crowd gathering, Shelley, who is a mother and part-time photographer from Camborne, Cornwall, takes to a microphone and says: 'As much as I've always loved our NHS, it's no longer our NHS. It's run by the corrupt government and the people running this company.
'We no longer have health care, we can't see dentists. I can tell you now when I was working at the height of the pandemic I had no work for three weeks because there were no patients. We have a particular Covid ward. None of the wards were overflowing with Covid patients and they're not now.'
She went on to claim that the flu and Covid cases are now recorded as 'the same thing' on death certificates.
In response to cheers from the crowd, she continues: 'I can tell you on Friday in Treliske there were three people in with Covid. No extra deaths, three - and that covers Treliske, West Cornwall and Hayle hospital.
'The total deaths from these three hospitals in seven months, is 76 people - that's about ten people a month over the last seven months, and we have locked down.
NHS figures show that 67 people died from Covid-19 at Treliske hospital between March and September, and official data seems to back up her point - there were just four people with the virus receiving care at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust on October 29.
Speaking exclusively to FEMAIL about the figures the government are presenting to the public, Shelley claimed: 'It's all lies. We've closed all of Cornwall down for three people in hospital.
'They haven't even died - they've supposedly got COVID. How many people are going to die because of this?
'There's a massive agenda going on here and people need to start realising.'
Speaking about her decision to address the topic publicly, Shelley, whose main aim was encourage 'other people would come forward,' explained: 'It's been a long time coming.
'I've kept quiet and people needed to see those figures.
'I think lots of people are now questioning things. That's got to be good because the world can't carry on as it is.'
She went on to say she will 'absolutely' not be adhering to the rules of second lockdown.
'I will be doing everything I want to do. If I want to see my friends...To be honest with you, we won't be going to pubs or anything like that, nothing will change for me,' she said.
'I don't have massive gatherings and stuff like that.
'There will be protests and we've got to carry on protesting. I will walk my dog and go to the beach and things like that.
'I don't think there'a restriction on exercise and stuff. I haven't looked too much into it to be honest with you.'
'No way it's going to happen for me, and it's not going to be happening for loads of people.
'People haven't got time to be reporting if there's seven people in the house - the police aren't going to come out for that.
'There's nothing that really needs to change for me. I'm just advising everybody to carry on as normal as they can't do anything.'
A spokesperson for Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust told MailOnline: 'We’re in the middle of a once in a lifetime pandemic and it is unacceptable for anybody to spread lies which could be harmful to people’s health, let alone from somebody in a respected position.
'The public’s incredible support for the NHS played a major role in helping us handle the first wave of coronavirus, and as we face a potential second wave, it is absolutely vital our staff and the public follow the latest public health guidance to help keep us all safe.'
In the viral clip, Shelley starts her speech by saying: 'Today I am publicly resigning OK? I am wearing this uniform sadly for the last time.
'I absolutely loved my job, those of you who have been following what's going on, we've done tasks, we've organised protests, I've had a lot of flack.
'We're at the point now it's all coming back to me. I've had an email from work last night asking me what's going on, people are reporting me and unfortunately I can't lie any more.
'I did something really bad. I took a screenshot on Friday which shows the figures of how many people are in Treliske hospital with Covid and I shared it, because this should be public information.'
'Lots of people have to start speaking out, there's lot of doctors and nurses who have come forward. They're all on restrictive duties, they're all seeing solicitors etc.'
Digger said
Nov 5 4:53 PM, 2020
Now, this is very interesting, because I personally know an intensive care doctor who works at Salford Royal Hospital, and he said that all through this, the intensive care wards have been half empty. Wards are empty.
So what is the truth? Must all these people die from untreated cancer now? Are we being fed a pack of lies? Some lies? Half truths?
She's not the first nurse to speak out like this either.
-- Edited by Digger on Thursday 5th of November 2020 04:54:53 PM
Digger said
Nov 5 4:57 PM, 2020
The NHS was never on track to be overwhelmed with coronavirus patients this winter but No10 was forced to hit the lockdown panic button because of its 'gloomster' scientific advisers, top experts fumed today.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has warned the health service could collapse and seriously ill non-Covid patients could be turned away unless Covid-19's resurgence is nipped in the bud.
But eminent doctors and scientists told MailOnline ministers had got their priorities twisted by sacrificing people's physical and mental wellbeing to save the NHS — which was designed to protect the people.
They claimed wards are no busier than they normally are at this time of year and that a large chunk of the people being treated for Covid-19 were either already in hospital when they caught the virus or would've been admitted for other reasons.
Oxford University's Professor Carl Heneghan, an expert in evidence-based medicine and practicing GP, said his analysis suggested a fifth of infected patients in the NHS acquired the virus in hospital, meaning they were already taking up a bed before contracting the disease.
NHS England has about 140,000 beds at its disposal - including capacity at the seven Nightingale hospital built during the first wave and thousands of beds commandeered from the private sector - and currently there are just shy of 10,500 Covid-19 patients in its hospitals. It means people with the disease are occupying fewer than 10 per cent of the health service's overall capacity.
Leaked documents suggest the NHS on a national scale is actually treating fewer patients than it was last year. Just 84 per cent of all hospital beds were occupied across the country on Tuesday, according to the document, which is lower than the 92 per cent recorded over the autumn of 2019.
It is true that a small handful of hospitals in hotspots in the North West are under strain after bearing the brunt of a surge in infections in recent months. But Karol Sikora, a consultant oncologist and professor of medicine at the University of Buckingham, said: 'This is supposed to be a national health service, if Leeds' ICU is full, we can send patients to Newcastle, for example. We do it all the time, for other conditions.'
Both Professor Sikora and Professor Heneghan claimed the health service is put under pressure every winter from other seasonal illnesses - due to having the lowest bed capacity per population in Europe - yet it manages to come out the other side without the need for the UK to adopt crude interventions.
Another senior NHS intensive care doctor made similar comments to MailOnline but claimed they were silenced by health bosses, who threatened them with disciplinary action if they contradicted the hospital data used to justify the lockdown.
One told this website: 'It is my personal view a lockdown was not needed right now, the data they've used has been conveniently sampled. The official rationale from the Government will be to ensure people are safe and lives are saved but I think the real reason is they do not want to receive the same criticism they did the first time round.
The first lockdown, while successful in protecting the NHS from being overwhelmed with Covid-19, has had a catastrophic effect on healthcare across the board. There were 27million fewer GP appointments than normal during the shut down, raising fears it led to the worsening of other conditions such as asthma and diabetes.
Tens of thousands less people than average went for cancer checks during that time and there were hundreds more deaths from heart attacks. Nearly a million people have lost their jobs since March and, when the furlough scheme ends next year, this is expected to rise again.
Digger said
Nov 5 5:00 PM, 2020
I personally still think we need this lock down.
Anonymous said
Nov 5 5:21 PM, 2020
I doubt her experience in a small corner of Cornwall is representative of what NHS workers have gone through elsewhere.
Digger said
Nov 5 6:05 PM, 2020
Anonymous wrote:
I doubt her experience in a small corner of Cornwall is representative of what NHS workers have gone through elsewhere.
Agreed. There are hospitals such as Blackburn Royal, that are full. However, Salford Royal is a massive hospital and I was surprised that it was not full to the gills too.
Syl said
Nov 5 6:25 PM, 2020
Well this was published over 2 weeks ago, so someone is releasing wrong information.
I doubt her experience in a small corner of Cornwall is representative of what NHS workers have gone through elsewhere.
She sounds like a conspiracy theorist nutter to me - oh and if she does not follow the rules and gets COVID it will be her fault.
-- Edited by John Doe on Thursday 5th of November 2020 07:31:52 PM
JP said
Nov 5 7:40 PM, 2020
Digger wrote:
The NHS was never on track to be overwhelmed with coronavirus patients this winter but No10 was forced to hit the lockdown panic button because of its 'gloomster' scientific advisers, top experts fumed today.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has warned the health service could collapse and seriously ill non-Covid patients could be turned away unless Covid-19's resurgence is nipped in the bud.
But eminent doctors and scientists told MailOnline ministers had got their priorities twisted by sacrificing people's physical and mental wellbeing to save the NHS — which was designed to protect the people.
They claimed wards are no busier than they normally are at this time of year and that a large chunk of the people being treated for Covid-19 were either already in hospital when they caught the virus or would've been admitted for other reasons.
Oxford University's Professor Carl Heneghan, an expert in evidence-based medicine and practicing GP, said his analysis suggested a fifth of infected patients in the NHS acquired the virus in hospital, meaning they were already taking up a bed before contracting the disease.
NHS England has about 140,000 beds at its disposal - including capacity at the seven Nightingale hospital built during the first wave and thousands of beds commandeered from the private sector - and currently there are just shy of 10,500 Covid-19 patients in its hospitals. It means people with the disease are occupying fewer than 10 per cent of the health service's overall capacity.
Leaked documents suggest the NHS on a national scale is actually treating fewer patients than it was last year. Just 84 per cent of all hospital beds were occupied across the country on Tuesday, according to the document, which is lower than the 92 per cent recorded over the autumn of 2019.
It is true that a small handful of hospitals in hotspots in the North West are under strain after bearing the brunt of a surge in infections in recent months. But Karol Sikora, a consultant oncologist and professor of medicine at the University of Buckingham, said: 'This is supposed to be a national health service, if Leeds' ICU is full, we can send patients to Newcastle, for example. We do it all the time, for other conditions.'
Both Professor Sikora and Professor Heneghan claimed the health service is put under pressure every winter from other seasonal illnesses - due to having the lowest bed capacity per population in Europe - yet it manages to come out the other side without the need for the UK to adopt crude interventions.
Another senior NHS intensive care doctor made similar comments to MailOnline but claimed they were silenced by health bosses, who threatened them with disciplinary action if they contradicted the hospital data used to justify the lockdown.
One told this website: 'It is my personal view a lockdown was not needed right now, the data they've used has been conveniently sampled. The official rationale from the Government will be to ensure people are safe and lives are saved but I think the real reason is they do not want to receive the same criticism they did the first time round.
The first lockdown, while successful in protecting the NHS from being overwhelmed with Covid-19, has had a catastrophic effect on healthcare across the board. There were 27million fewer GP appointments than normal during the shut down, raising fears it led to the worsening of other conditions such as asthma and diabetes.
Tens of thousands less people than average went for cancer checks during that time and there were hundreds more deaths from heart attacks. Nearly a million people have lost their jobs since March and, when the furlough scheme ends next year, this is expected to rise again.
I know of Heneghan. I've heard a lot from him in various articles and on some radio stations. He's very well qualified in the area.
There is more and more heat being aimed at Vallance and Witty of late. Personally I also don't particularly trust them. Using 3 week old data in the press conference the other day reinforced that a little more.
She went on to claim that the flu and Covid cases are now recorded as 'the same thing' on death certificates.
That^^ from your first post, yeah I've heard that before.
It's very difficult to know what to think at times now. I still find it strange how France, Spain, Italy, UK. Seem to do things basically in tandem, the virus goes crazy pretty much in unison. Actually this time around even more so the case.
-- Edited by JP on Thursday 5th of November 2020 07:49:12 PM
Put that into google address bar. Interesting reading.
The CSO and his supposed "covid" financial links comes up among other things.
Digger said
Nov 5 8:58 PM, 2020
I've just had an interesting convo on the phone with a friend who lives in Exeter. She works for the NHS. At the hospital one of the staff members complained of Covid symptoms including loss of taste and smell. instead of sending her home or for testing, the manager told her she had to stay as they were short staffed. This friend of mine then complained, saying the woman should be tested and sent home. A huge row ensued, so she went over the manager's head, and told the top brass. The woman was tested positive for Covid and sent home. But not before she spent a whole day contaminating all and sundry including going down to the canteen to eat. The manager had to apologise to my friend and received a warning.
What a state of affairs!
John Doe said
Nov 5 9:10 PM, 2020
Digger wrote:
I've just had an interesting convo on the phone with a friend who lives in Exeter. She works for the NHS. At the hospital one of the staff members complained of Covid symptoms including loss of taste and smell. instead of sending her home or for testing, the manager told her she had to stay as they were short staffed. This friend of mine then complained, saying the woman should be tested and sent home. A huge row ensued, so she went over the manager's head, and told the top brass. The woman was tested positive for Covid and sent home. But not before she spent a whole day contaminating all and sundry including going down to the canteen to eat. The manager had to apologise to my friend and received a warning.
What a state of affairs!
Bloody hell!
Syl said
Nov 6 12:06 PM, 2020
Digger wrote:
I've just had an interesting convo on the phone with a friend who lives in Exeter. She works for the NHS. At the hospital one of the staff members complained of Covid symptoms including loss of taste and smell. instead of sending her home or for testing, the manager told her she had to stay as they were short staffed. This friend of mine then complained, saying the woman should be tested and sent home. A huge row ensued, so she went over the manager's head, and told the top brass. The woman was tested positive for Covid and sent home. But not before she spent a whole day contaminating all and sundry including going down to the canteen to eat. The manager had to apologise to my friend and received a warning.
What a state of affairs!
I dont think that's a one off tbh, I know someone who works for an organisation that deals solely with the elderly. The staff were told to go in to work when many of them could have easily worked from home, and when the boss was asked what they should do if they or a member of their family became ill, they were told to carry on, but he still didn't want anyone working from home.
One woman flatly refused as her job could be done perfectly online, she was downgraded and her promotion which was pending was given to someone else.
Anonymous said
Nov 6 2:44 PM, 2020
OH told me he woke up with a sore throat this morning, no temp or cough etc.... anyway, that’s him in the spare room for the foreseeable! ..... paranoid or what?
Digger said
Nov 6 6:08 PM, 2020
Poca wrote:
OH told me he woke up with a sore throat this morning, no temp or cough etc.... anyway, that’s him in the spare room for the foreseeable! ..... paranoid or what?
I had a sore throat the other day. It was quite bad and I thought the worst. But it only lasted a day or so and I'm fine.
Syl said
Nov 6 6:51 PM, 2020
I think the masks we have to wear cause dry throats which can turn into sore throats...that;s my theory anyway.
Anonymous said
Nov 6 7:17 PM, 2020
Without coronavirus remember this is the season of colds and the flu. In academia there is something called Freshers Flu - the great mixing of undergraduates from all over the country and the world plus the autumn period.
Anonymous said
Nov 6 7:21 PM, 2020
Anonymous wrote:
I doubt her experience in a small corner of Cornwall is representative of what NHS workers have gone through elsewhere.
Rather than accept what is going on in one corner of Cornwall, why do you feel the need to doubt her experience is representative?
Anonymous said
Nov 6 7:25 PM, 2020
John Doe wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
I doubt her experience in a small corner of Cornwall is representative of what NHS workers have gone through elsewhere.
She sounds like a conspiracy theorist nutter to me - oh and if she does not follow the rules and gets COVID it will be her fault.
-- Edited by John Doe on Thursday 5th of November 2020 07:31:52 PM
If you attack someone you don't know for reporting on her experiences as an NHS worker in a hospital in Cornwall, you will be shutting down the voices of ordinary people
including all forms of whistle blowers. That is authoritarianism.
Maddog said
Nov 6 9:04 PM, 2020
Digger wrote:
Poca wrote:
OH told me he woke up with a sore throat this morning, no temp or cough etc.... anyway, that’s him in the spare room for the foreseeable! ..... paranoid or what?
I had a sore throat the other day. It was quite bad and I thought the worst. But it only lasted a day or so and I'm fine.
I did too. Took some Advil (don't know what y'all call it) and it went away.
A whistleblower NHS healthcare assistant who publicly resigned after claiming she had 'no work for three weeks' at the height of the pandemic has said the claim the NHS is overrun is 'all lies.'
A viral Facebook video shows Shelley Tasker, 43 - a healthcare assistant at Treliske hospital, which is part of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust - telling members of the public what is 'really going on' behind closed doors in NHS hospitals.
In the clip filmed outside Truro Cathedral with a crowd gathering, Shelley, who is a mother and part-time photographer from Camborne, Cornwall, takes to a microphone and says: 'As much as I've always loved our NHS, it's no longer our NHS. It's run by the corrupt government and the people running this company.
'We no longer have health care, we can't see dentists. I can tell you now when I was working at the height of the pandemic I had no work for three weeks because there were no patients. We have a particular Covid ward. None of the wards were overflowing with Covid patients and they're not now.'
She went on to claim that the flu and Covid cases are now recorded as 'the same thing' on death certificates.
In response to cheers from the crowd, she continues: 'I can tell you on Friday in Treliske there were three people in with Covid. No extra deaths, three - and that covers Treliske, West Cornwall and Hayle hospital.
'The total deaths from these three hospitals in seven months, is 76 people - that's about ten people a month over the last seven months, and we have locked down.
NHS figures show that 67 people died from Covid-19 at Treliske hospital between March and September, and official data seems to back up her point - there were just four people with the virus receiving care at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust on October 29.
Speaking exclusively to FEMAIL about the figures the government are presenting to the public, Shelley claimed: 'It's all lies. We've closed all of Cornwall down for three people in hospital.
'They haven't even died - they've supposedly got COVID. How many people are going to die because of this?
'There's a massive agenda going on here and people need to start realising.'
Speaking about her decision to address the topic publicly, Shelley, whose main aim was encourage 'other people would come forward,' explained: 'It's been a long time coming.
'I've kept quiet and people needed to see those figures.
'I think lots of people are now questioning things. That's got to be good because the world can't carry on as it is.'
She went on to say she will 'absolutely' not be adhering to the rules of second lockdown.
'I will be doing everything I want to do. If I want to see my friends...To be honest with you, we won't be going to pubs or anything like that, nothing will change for me,' she said.
'I don't have massive gatherings and stuff like that.
'There will be protests and we've got to carry on protesting. I will walk my dog and go to the beach and things like that.
'I don't think there'a restriction on exercise and stuff. I haven't looked too much into it to be honest with you.'
'No way it's going to happen for me, and it's not going to be happening for loads of people.
'People haven't got time to be reporting if there's seven people in the house - the police aren't going to come out for that.
'There's nothing that really needs to change for me. I'm just advising everybody to carry on as normal as they can't do anything.'
A spokesperson for Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust told MailOnline: 'We’re in the middle of a once in a lifetime pandemic and it is unacceptable for anybody to spread lies which could be harmful to people’s health, let alone from somebody in a respected position.
'The public’s incredible support for the NHS played a major role in helping us handle the first wave of coronavirus, and as we face a potential second wave, it is absolutely vital our staff and the public follow the latest public health guidance to help keep us all safe.'
In the viral clip, Shelley starts her speech by saying: 'Today I am publicly resigning OK? I am wearing this uniform sadly for the last time.
'I absolutely loved my job, those of you who have been following what's going on, we've done tasks, we've organised protests, I've had a lot of flack.
'We're at the point now it's all coming back to me. I've had an email from work last night asking me what's going on, people are reporting me and unfortunately I can't lie any more.
'I did something really bad. I took a screenshot on Friday which shows the figures of how many people are in Treliske hospital with Covid and I shared it, because this should be public information.'
'Lots of people have to start speaking out, there's lot of doctors and nurses who have come forward. They're all on restrictive duties, they're all seeing solicitors etc.'
Now, this is very interesting, because I personally know an intensive care doctor who works at Salford Royal Hospital, and he said that all through this, the intensive care wards have been half empty. Wards are empty.
So what is the truth? Must all these people die from untreated cancer now? Are we being fed a pack of lies? Some lies? Half truths?
She's not the first nurse to speak out like this either.
-- Edited by Digger on Thursday 5th of November 2020 04:54:53 PM
The NHS was never on track to be overwhelmed with coronavirus patients this winter but No10 was forced to hit the lockdown panic button because of its 'gloomster' scientific advisers, top experts fumed today.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has warned the health service could collapse and seriously ill non-Covid patients could be turned away unless Covid-19's resurgence is nipped in the bud.
But eminent doctors and scientists told MailOnline ministers had got their priorities twisted by sacrificing people's physical and mental wellbeing to save the NHS — which was designed to protect the people.
They claimed wards are no busier than they normally are at this time of year and that a large chunk of the people being treated for Covid-19 were either already in hospital when they caught the virus or would've been admitted for other reasons.
Oxford University's Professor Carl Heneghan, an expert in evidence-based medicine and practicing GP, said his analysis suggested a fifth of infected patients in the NHS acquired the virus in hospital, meaning they were already taking up a bed before contracting the disease.
NHS England has about 140,000 beds at its disposal - including capacity at the seven Nightingale hospital built during the first wave and thousands of beds commandeered from the private sector - and currently there are just shy of 10,500 Covid-19 patients in its hospitals. It means people with the disease are occupying fewer than 10 per cent of the health service's overall capacity.
Leaked documents suggest the NHS on a national scale is actually treating fewer patients than it was last year. Just 84 per cent of all hospital beds were occupied across the country on Tuesday, according to the document, which is lower than the 92 per cent recorded over the autumn of 2019.
It is true that a small handful of hospitals in hotspots in the North West are under strain after bearing the brunt of a surge in infections in recent months. But Karol Sikora, a consultant oncologist and professor of medicine at the University of Buckingham, said: 'This is supposed to be a national health service, if Leeds' ICU is full, we can send patients to Newcastle, for example. We do it all the time, for other conditions.'
Both Professor Sikora and Professor Heneghan claimed the health service is put under pressure every winter from other seasonal illnesses - due to having the lowest bed capacity per population in Europe - yet it manages to come out the other side without the need for the UK to adopt crude interventions.
Another senior NHS intensive care doctor made similar comments to MailOnline but claimed they were silenced by health bosses, who threatened them with disciplinary action if they contradicted the hospital data used to justify the lockdown.
One told this website: 'It is my personal view a lockdown was not needed right now, the data they've used has been conveniently sampled. The official rationale from the Government will be to ensure people are safe and lives are saved but I think the real reason is they do not want to receive the same criticism they did the first time round.
The first lockdown, while successful in protecting the NHS from being overwhelmed with Covid-19, has had a catastrophic effect on healthcare across the board. There were 27million fewer GP appointments than normal during the shut down, raising fears it led to the worsening of other conditions such as asthma and diabetes.
Tens of thousands less people than average went for cancer checks during that time and there were hundreds more deaths from heart attacks. Nearly a million people have lost their jobs since March and, when the furlough scheme ends next year, this is expected to rise again.
I doubt her experience in a small corner of Cornwall is representative of what NHS workers have gone through elsewhere.
Agreed. There are hospitals such as Blackburn Royal, that are full. However, Salford Royal is a massive hospital and I was surprised that it was not full to the gills too.
www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/18/revealed-some-manchester-area-hospitals-already-full
She sounds like a conspiracy theorist nutter to me - oh and if she does not follow the rules and gets COVID it will be her fault.
-- Edited by John Doe on Thursday 5th of November 2020 07:31:52 PM
I know of Heneghan. I've heard a lot from him in various articles and on some radio stations. He's very well qualified in the area.
There is more and more heat being aimed at Vallance and Witty of late. Personally I also don't particularly trust them. Using 3 week old data in the press conference the other day reinforced that a little more.
She went on to claim that the flu and Covid cases are now recorded as 'the same thing' on death certificates.
That^^ from your first post, yeah I've heard that before.
It's very difficult to know what to think at times now. I still find it strange how France, Spain, Italy, UK. Seem to do things basically in tandem, the virus goes crazy pretty much in unison. Actually this time around even more so the case.
-- Edited by JP on Thursday 5th of November 2020 07:49:12 PM
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32064-X/fulltext
Put that into google address bar. Interesting reading.
The CSO and his supposed "covid" financial links comes up among other things.
What a state of affairs!
Bloody hell!
I dont think that's a one off tbh, I know someone who works for an organisation that deals solely with the elderly. The staff were told to go in to work when many of them could have easily worked from home, and when the boss was asked what they should do if they or a member of their family became ill, they were told to carry on, but he still didn't want anyone working from home.
One woman flatly refused as her job could be done perfectly online, she was downgraded and her promotion which was pending was given to someone else.
OH told me he woke up with a sore throat this morning, no temp or cough etc.... anyway, that’s him in the spare room for the foreseeable!
..... paranoid or what? 
I had a sore throat the other day. It was quite bad and I thought the worst. But it only lasted a day or so and I'm fine.
Without coronavirus remember this is the season of colds and the flu. In academia there is something called Freshers Flu - the great mixing of undergraduates from all over the country and the world plus the autumn period.
Rather than accept what is going on in one corner of Cornwall, why do you feel the need to doubt her experience is representative?
If you attack someone you don't know for reporting on her experiences as an NHS worker in a hospital in Cornwall, you will be shutting down the voices of ordinary people
including all forms of whistle blowers. That is authoritarianism.
I did too. Took some Advil (don't know what y'all call it) and it went away.
Guess I dodged it again.