The argument is now the wrong way around, Chris Whitty told MPs on Wednesday, among those critics of the first lockdown who argue that it resulted in fewer people accessing medical treatment, fewer diagnoses and more deaths from non-Covid causes. If hospitals are stuffed with Covid patients, the chief medical officer asserted, then they do not have the capacity to treat other patients. Control Covid using restrictions, on the other hand, and hospitals can retain their capacity to treat patients for other conditions.
The gap in health between rich and poor is only likely to widen
Whitty’s reasoning is perfectly logical, except that it doesn’t quite reflect what happened in the spring. A study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), reveals just how many people missed out on treatment during the first wave of Covid-19. Between February and May, according to the IFS, 3.6 million patients over the age of 50 had hospital treatment cancelled.
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