It is hard to remember a time when the daily drip of Covid statistics was not part of our lives. Since March 2020, we have been greeted every afternoon with a stream of government released data filling us in on the number of infections, hospitalisations and deaths. But how necessary is it today?
With a current seven-day average of only seven Covid deaths a day, the lowest level since 15 March 2020, what do we stand to gain by continuing with this current approach? It is becoming increasingly apparent that the Indian variant is not going to swamp hospitals – and that concerns about fully unlocking on 21 June are over-egged.
Even if this particular variant does prove to be more transmissible, the effectiveness of the vaccines prevents it from being of much concern. It is highly unlikely we will ever return to the numbers of infections and deaths that were seen in the first and second waves.
As a cancer specialist, I know the importance of delivering bad news appropriately to protect patients’ mental wellbeing
So with life now beginning to return to normal with the recent opening of pubs and restaurants indoors – and with many people returning to their place of work – it seems incongruous that we are still being fed this particular daily Covid report.
Prior to Covid there were around 1,444 deaths each day in England & Wales, of which more than 450 deaths were due to cancer, and yet we did not receive a daily breakdown on the total numbers or the causes of these deaths.
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