‘Average age of people dying of Covid is about 80, but when is a good age to die? You tell me’
PUBLIC HEALTH CHIEF DEFENDS THE AUTHORITIES’ TOUGH STANCE
LEICESTERSHIRE’S director of public health has hit back at suggestions that the authorities are taking the threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic too seriously.
The average age of the people who have died from the virus is about 80, which has led some people to suggest the threat posed by the virus to the general population is being blown out of proportion.
But Mike Sandys has given short shrift to these arguments during an online interview with our digital news platform LeicestershireLive.
Mr Sandys agreed to answer questions posed by the public during the live interview and one viewer demanded to know the average age of those who have died after testing positive for the virus.
Mr Sandys responded: “The average age is somewhere around 80.”
But he was quick to reject the implications that the threat of coronavirus is being taken too seriously and the younger population should not have to face such tough lockdown restrictions purely to protect people nearing the end of their lives.
He said: “Like any disease, like flu, this is a disease that disproportionately takes away the elderly and the infirm and there’s the judgement call – how do you put a value on a life?
“If you are going to, do you value the life of someone over 80 more or less than someone who is 14 or 15?
“The factual answer is, yes, it kills older people, but not exclusively.
“The other side to this is, when’s a good age to die? You tell me. It’s difficult.”
“From a personal point of view my dad was 87 when he died, but it was probably his time to go, given his infirmity by then.
“My mum died when she was 64, there’s only 23 years difference, but there is a world of difference between what is a good death and a bad death.
“My mum was robbed of seeing me grow up, get married, have kids and everything else. You can’t pin it to a number – sorry, I’m getting a bit personal, but it’s a difficult one.”
Earlier in the same interview, another viewer asked if people were taking Covid-19 too seriously, to which Mr Sandys suggested asking the family of someone killed by the virus. He said: “If you go to a funeral and say to the relatives ‘you’re taking this a bit seriously aren’t you?’ I can’t imagine you’d get a very positive response.
“I know you can’t stop death, everybody will die of something at some stage, but if it’s preventable, and this is preventable by doing the right things, then why wouldn’t you?”
Rates across the county are rising rapidly, with all areas now having a seven-day infection rate topping 100 cases per 100,000 people.