NHS chief warns against ‘age-based apartheid’ in coronavirus response

When Boris Johnson addressed the nation last week to give an update on his coronavirus strategy, the Prime Minister offered a rebuke of the idea put forward by some Tory MPs and scientists that vulnerable groups ought to be shielded and the rest of the population allowed to live close to normal lives. He argued that suggestions the vulnerable could simply shield were misguided, as it was likely the virus would still reach these groups. Now he has won backing from NHS chief Sir Simon Stevens.

Speaking at The Spectator‘s alternative conference, the NHS’s chief executive officer said ‘we are not going to have aged-based apartheid across this country’. Stevens argued: 

‘The idea that you could completely separate the fifth of the population over 65 i think is implausible. Not least because for some the most vulnerable they will be getting help from working age adults, some of whom will be younger, and some [will be] living in households with younger people and so forth.