THE POSITIVE PROFESSOR
SOCIAL media’s voice of calm Karol Sikora has been signed up by the Daily Express. Readers can now enjoy his soothing advice in these troubled times that have won him hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter. If you need reassuring everything’s going to be all right read Professor Positivity.
I WAS sadly unsurprised to read reports stating that 200,000 people could lose their lives due to consequences of a continued lockdown.
It’s always difficult to put precise numbers on these scenarios and I always advise caution when dealing with them, but the overall principle is clear.
This coronavirus tunnel vision will come at an enormous human cost.
I’ve long warned about the dangers of delayed cancer services. Over the weekend reports emerged that three million people have missed screenings, tests or treatment since lockdown began.
That is a staggering number. It’s been almost four months since lockdown officially began. Unfortunately it is fair to say that people will already be losing their lives unnecessarily from cancer now. A short delay in treatment usually won’t make too much of a difference, but three months will make a significant impact for some. Sadly some patients are now experiencing that sort of delay.
It isn’t just cancer. Hospitals across the country are seeing far fewer heart attacks too, not to mention every other serious illness that has been forgotten about.
If a heart attack is untreated the damage to the cardiac muscle can be greater and result in heart failure a year or so later.
People are still getting seriously ill, but many are too scared to go to their hospital. This has cost lives.
Paralysing the country with fear was always going to have deadly consequences. I’m surprised more hasn’t been done to lift some of the terror when it became obvious what was happening. The rest of Europe has managed to do this much better.
What can we do? We need to get healthcare moving now. I’ve been so desperate to try and tackle the fear because I knew what would happen. Sadly we are seeing it unfold now.
The second wave we should be concentrated on now is that of cancer, cardiac and millions of other patients who have missed out on the healthcare they needed.