60,000 Britons May Die Due to Possible Failure by NHS ‘to Cope’ With Upcoming COVID Challenges

In April, David Nicholson, former head of the UK’s National Health Service, warned of far-reaching consequences due to the backlog of medical care caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) may be “unable to cope” with a possible combination of seasonal viruses and COVID-19 this winter that may kill at least 60,000 people, a new report has warned.

The survey from the Academy of Medical Sciences suggested that flu and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) hospital admissions and the death toll could be twice as high as compared to a “normal” year, something that may coincide with a surge in coronavirus infections.

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: COVID-19 vaccinations in Birmingham

Professor Sir Stephen Holgate, chair of the Expert Advisory Group that conducted the report, mentioned “four main challenges” pertaining to the issue, including an increase in respiratory viruses that could put pressure on the NHS.

He insisted the third problem is that the NHS is “already under pressure”, which is why the healthcare system “is likely not to be able to cope with these winter challenges going forward”.

Lastly, the COVID-19 pandemic could create “worse physical and mental health within the UK population”, according to Holgate.

The professor called for a change in the way the UK operates as a society, which he claimed may stop “the annual continual pressure on the health service created by all these viruses”, and which “just means a change in behaviour”.

UK Health Secretary Says COVID Restrictions Will Be Lifted On 19 July Despite ‘Risk’

The comments follow Britain’s Health Secretary Sajid Javid making it clear in late June that once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted they will not be reimposed, even if the number of cases and deaths begins to rise again.

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid leaves11 Downing Street in London, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019

He said he wanted Step Four – the complete lifting of restrictions scheduled for 19 July to be “irreversible”.

This came a few months after former NHS chief David Nicholson, warned of serious implications due to the backlog of medical care caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Nicolson, the delays related to getting treatment in the UK may pose risks to patients’ health and become one of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s worst headaches in the immediate future.

​Britain has had 5.2 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic started and the death toll has already soared to 128,797, according to John Hopkins University’s latest estimates.

Sourse: sputniknews.com