Covid: Christmas plans will cost many lives

Two of Britain’s most important medical inspections are calling on the government to cancel plans to ease restrictions on halting the spread of COVID-19 for five days at Christmas, warning that the system could be overloaded. health.

Noting that this is just the second joint major article they have published in more than 100 years, the British Medical Journal and Health Service Journal emphasize that the government should strengthen the measures rather than allow three households to meet for a period five days.

“We believe that the government is going to make another big mistake that will cost many lives,” the article said.

Its authors believe that instead of giving the world a chance to reduce its defenses at Christmas, Britain should follow the more cautious examples of Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, which have just announced that they are tightening restrictions.

Britain has recorded 64,402 deaths from COVID-19, the second highest number in Europe.

The article was released a day after the government announced that, due to the outbreak of the cases, London would be placed in the “Very High Alarm” level, the highest of the three-tier system in force in England to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan also said the government would have to reconsider its plans for Christmas and that the prompting of the two medical inspections was expected to put additional pressure on the already growing government to change course. So far, ministers have rejected similar demands, stressing the need for citizens to act responsibly.

Both inspections note that unless there is a policy change, the National Public Health System (NHS) will be faced with a difficult choice after Christmas: either to stop non-emergency hospitalization or to be overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients.

“The main impact of a further increase in patients with COVID-19 is likely to be more pronounced in those with other conditions,” the article said.

The government has been too late to introduce restrictive measures in the spring and again in the autumn, its authors point out, accusing it of “wasting money on failure” by generously funding a national tracking and tracking system that was inadequate.

“It should now reconsider its hasty decision to allow household contacts and instead extend the tier system for the five-day Christmas period in order to reduce the numbers before a possible third wave,” they said. two inspections.

The British government has announced that its plans remain under consideration, but has not stated that it will reconsider its decision.

“What we are asking people to do is as little as possible, there is room for three households to meet at this time,” Treasury Secretary Steve Barkley told LBC.

“It is a difficult time and we do not want to treat families as criminals because they will be together at Christmas,” he said.