Speed up tests for NHS staff

One in four doctors off sick

CONFIRMATION THAT around one in four NHS doctors are off work sick or in isolation is another stark reminder – if one was needed – about how easily Covid-19 can spread.

Yet, with medical leaders unsure how many NHS, ambulance and social care staff have contracted coronavirus, or are merely absent as a precaution, it highlights the need for the Government to accelerate the testing of key staff.

As makeshift new hospitals are built, and concerns continue to be expressed about shortages of PPE protective equipment, this takes on added urgency in the light of Boris Johnson’s sombre warning that “things will get worse before they get better”.

However, with the number of coronavirus-related deaths now standing at 1,415, it is even more important that families only make journeys previously prescribed as “essential”.

On the whole, the vast majority of people are conforming to social distancing edicts and it is regrettable that a handful of high-profile footballers and politicians have set a bad example – the country expected better of them and, hopefully, public opprobrium will make them think twice in the future.

After all, these incidents only compromise still further the invidious work of the police who, in fairness, are trying to enforce public health regulations with a light touch after Cressida Dick, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said offenders should only be fined as a last resort.

A week after the country was placed in effective lockdown, she said her approach is to “help educate and encourage” the public to comply with the tightest restrictions seen in peacetime in the UK.

It is also the preferable strategy, provided that the public help the police by being compliant. For, if not, the consequences will be two-fold – an even more stringent lockdown and, tragically, even more deaths.