Politicians are focused on the current pandemic. But there are more worrying problems ahead that need to be addressed that are being deflected by an exclusive focus on Covid 19. Climate change is almost certainly going to be a bigger, more durable hit for the world economy than Covid 19.
The UK may well end up with a higher death toll from Covid 19 than either Spain or Italy. But, the number of hospital admissions in London has flattened and slowed in the West Midlands. It is not clear that the 2,900 bed hospital in London Docklands (NHS Nightingale) is going to be needed.
Indeed, across the National Health Service, there remains an excess of critical care beds. Even in London, and Birmingham and the Black Country — where there have been the most serious covid-19 cases — there are large numbers of unoccupied beds.
The number of ‘super stranded patients’ – in hospital for 21 days or more – has dropped sharply, freeing up capacity.
The space capacity removes a key argument in favour of the lockdown. At the very minimum, the Government needs to assess the longer term economic the costs of keeping the capital city in lockdown, and the potential increase in mortality rates from other illnesses, food poverty etc.
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