Furious Salisbury residents have hit out at the authorities’ ‘diabolical’ public health response to the poisoning of Russian spy Sergei Skripal in their city.
Former double agent Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, are still in a ‘critical condition’ in hospital after being deliberately targeted with a deadly nerve agent last Sunday.
Wilthshire Police’s Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, 38, is in a ‘serious but stable condition’ after becoming infected as he investigated the attempted murders.
On Wednesday public health boss Dame Sally Davies assured locals they were at ‘low risk’.
But yesterday officials told anyone who went to the pub and restaurant where the Skripals were before they were found unconscious to ‘wash their possessions’ as a precaution.
Furious Salisbury residents have hit out at the authorities’ ‘diabolical’ public health response to the poisoning of Russian spy Sergei Skripal in their city a week ago
Angry locals have slammed the decision to issue a health warning almost a week after they decided to cordon off The Mill pub and Zizzi restaurant (pictured) for traces of the fatal substance
Now anyone who was in The Mill pub (pictured) or Zizzi from 1.30pm on Sunday, March 4 until they were blocked off is subject to an official public health warning, instructing them to ‘wash their clothes’
Forensic experts have followed the ‘trail of poison’ around Salisbury and are finally pictured searching The Mill pub (pictured) where the Skripals were drinking before they were found unconscious last Sunday afternoon
Angry locals have slammed the decision to issue a health warning almost a week after they decided to cordon off The Mill pub and Zizzi restaurant for traces of the fatal substance.
Kathleen Townsend, 28, a deputy manager of a shoe shop in Salisbury said: ‘The way the public has been kept in the dark is diabolical.
‘They knew on Tuesday that it was serious enough to shut those places down yet they didn’t give a warning about washing your clothes until a week later.
‘What are the authorities going to say to the parents of a young child who is contaminated with nerve gas because they were in Zizzi or The Mill last Sunday?’
Alexandra Boyd wrote on Facebook: ‘I am confused, if there is no health risk to the public then WHY is everything being quarantined?
‘Also what will washing your clothes do if the ambulances are being either disposed of or quarantined?????’
Officers protected by Hazmat suits have sealed off five sites around Salisbury. But angry locals have slammed the decision to issue a health warning almost a week after they decided to cordon off The Mill pub and Zizzi restaurant for traces of the fatal substance
Military personnel are pictured in hazmat suits as investigators search The Mill pub and Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury where Sergei and Yulia Skripal ate and drank before being found in a ‘catatonic state’ on a nearby bench last Sunday
Dan Munday posted: ‘Enough of this cloak and dagger stuff, let the public know what’s going on, it is our city after all!’
Sharon Said commented: ‘A little too late I think.. personal belongings would of gone everywhere with u, in other people’s house, shops, schools etc. If this is the case, everyone in Salisbury could be affected by now.’
Liz Cannings launched a furious tirade on social media, saying: ‘We the people of Salisbury need to know more.
‘All we have seen is authorities in anti chemical gear and gas masks , and we are told low risk.
‘And then 7 whole days later being told to wash our clothes and use baby wipes !
‘How an earth do you expect us to feel ?? We are not idiots !’
The joint press conference, which involved Wiltshire Police Chief constable Kier Pritchard, South Western Ambulance Service, Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, the chief executive of Salisbury District Hospital and Public Health England, refused to answer questions on why it had taken days to issue a health warning.
Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia (pictured in Zizzi in 2016) were eating in the restaurant when they were attacked with a nerve agent
Zizzi was cordoned off by investigators at 10pm last Monday and The Mill pub was sealed off at 11.30am on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally insisted: ‘My message to the public is that this event poses a low risk to us, the public, on the evidence we have.’
She also advised locals that all the sites the pair were known to have visited had been ‘secured’.
Now anyone who was in either building from 1.30pm on Sunday, March 4 until they were blocked off is subject to an official public health warning, instructing them to ‘wash their clothes’.
Clothes which cannot be washed, for example if they need dry cleaning, should be double bagged in plastic until further notice.
Mobile phones, handbags and other electronic items should be wiped with baby wipes, which should be bagged in plastic and placed in a bin.
Other items such as jewellery and glasses should be washed with warm water and detergent.
Five sites across the Cathedral city have been sealed off as part of a huge-scale, military-backed operation.
Extensive searches have been carried out at the former Russian spy’s home and the cemetery where his wife and son are buried.