Shocking toll of Covid’s 25,000 hidden victims

DEEP in the pandemic’s second wave, the coronavirus still seems to be the only game in town. Sadly, that isn’t the case. As medics such as Karol Sikora have been warning us, the consequences of Covid- 19 do not just include the virus itself but also the dire effects of other chronic diseases neglected during in past months.

Now new figures show almost 25,000 excess deaths in homes across England during the post- lockdown period, with most unrelated to Covid- 19 itself – supporting the suspicion that for some time many people have not sought help for ailments including dementia, heart disease, Parkinson’s and diabetes, and others have had cancer treatments shunted down the road.

Kelly Smith died at just 31 in June, after her treatment for bowel cancer was postponed due to Covid. As her anguished father Craig Russell put it, lives have been “traded” and he has now called upon the Government to resolve this matter urgently.

We support Mr Russell, and the various charities now calling for greater support for non- Covid illnesses. He and wife Mandy have set up a campaign, Catch Up With Cancer, to bring lapsed cancer treatments up to date. More than 100 MPs agree with the Russells that emergency plans are sorely needed to avoid more lives like Kelly’s being lost. Their petition has been signed by 310,000 people and rising.

The Daily Express urges readers to consider signing the petition at www.change.org/p/the-secretary-of-state-forhealth-matt-han cock-stop-unnecessarycancer-deaths-caused-by-the-coviddisruptions-and-save-thousands-of-lives