Complaint
In an interview about the decision by hospitals in the region to cease a requirement for masks to be worn, the virologist Dr Chris Smith said “The risk and the threat posed by Coronavirus infection now in a highly vaccinated population is lower than the risk from something like the flu”. A viewer complained that this was misleading because it took no account of such factors as the potential severity of Covid symptoms and the possibility of developing long Covid. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
The ECU accepted that the factors mentioned by the complainant would be relevant to a comprehensive assessment of the relative risks posed by Covid and flu. In the context of the hospitals’ decision about mask-wearing, however, the focus was on the transmission of the diseases rather than on the possible consequences of contracting them, and Dr Smith’s comments appeared to be duly accurate in that respect.
Not upheld