He realized he fucked up, and he's horrified of the consequences, so instead of admitting it, he can only double, and triple down. He keeps realizing he's only made things worse, but the consequences are also worse now, so he'll continue on the path of doom thinking it might eventually get better, and it won't.

He's abdicated his role as leader to the health "experts" who have a very narrow focus, and that's only damned everywhere else (including mental health). He removed Baber for dissent because he revealed the flaws of Ford's actions. Ford can't admit he was wrong.

He knows how fucked his orders are, and that he's done the opposite of what he was voted in for. He's done what he could to defer responsibility to the health "experts," but that's not the job of a leader. They're supposed to take in all the information from all sectors and make a decision. They're not supposed to just do whatever someone with a very narrow focus is telling them. He also removed Baber for dissent, since he brought up inconvenient facts about the harm being done by the government's orders.

Government's dug themselves so deep they can only keep digging. They'll never backtrack.