Sports Direct has shown exactly what not to do during this pandemic. If we’re to beat coronavirus, we have to be selfless

As a country, we must do what will save the most lives. That’s true of the government, people across the country and medics on the frontline, writes Rosena Allin-Khan

Sports Direct has now decided to close over coronavirus following initial plans to stay open, despite government ordering all non-essential businesses to close (AFP)

There seems to be a view amongst some under-70s, that coronavirus doesn’t really affect them and they don’t need to worry too much about it. I’ve listened to 69-year-olds tell me that because they themselves are fit and healthy, that it couldn’t possibly happen to them. Having just done a shift as a doctor in A&E over the weekend, I want to take this opportunity to warn people that this virus does not discriminate by age.

It was deeply, deeply eye-opening. Previously healthy people in their thirties and forties were seriously ill, some of them on ventilators. Being young does not grant you immunity to this disease. The symptoms of Covid-19 at its worst, are horrific. There can be no room for complacency.

Our health service is facing an unprecedented crisis. There is a limited amount of vital equipment, including personal protective equipment for healthcare workers and precious ventilators. Every extra person in hospital requiring treatment means there are fewer resources available for others.

Those patients who are sickest arrive breathless with crackles so fine in their lungs you can hardly hear them. Their X-rays show white lungs where normally they would look clear, black and full of air. A point comes when they can no longer breathe for themselves enough to keep them alive, so A&E and critical care teams have to anaesthetise them, put in a breathing tube and connect them to a ventilator to breathe for them. The number of patients requiring this is growing by the day. This is driving the push for more ventilators, without which, this group of patients would not survive.

There are others who experience mild illness and come in with abdominal pain or other symptoms. After five minutes of examination, they admit to having a week-long cough and feeling “under the weather”. Often, they have not said that at Triage, so the doctors and nurses then realise they have spent up to 10 minutes in close proximity with someone who may be Covid-19 positive. It’s getting increasingly more difficult and stressful to work on the frontlines – but this is what we’ve trained for. We are here to save lives.

There may soon come a time when doctors are having to make awful choices about who gets access to the best treatment and who does not. It cannot be downplayed how great the effect will be on the mental health of those on the frontline. If you are a young person with a better prognosis, you may well get priority access to treatment – but that means that someone else will not. That person will be someone’s mother or father, grandfather or grandmother, sister or brother. We all have a responsibility to help our NHS get through this and to help our more vulnerable neighbours, friends and family. We must start taking that responsibility seriously, now.

That responsibility rests first and foremost with the government – we need real leadership at a time of national crisis, not mixed messaging. On Sunday, we had Boris Johnson telling people to “enjoy themselves outside”, while simultaneously advocating social distancing and self-isolation. I welcome the new, more stringent measures announced on Monday – however, as Sports Direct’s Mike Ashley has shown, there’s still room for people to exploit it.

As a country, we must do what will save the most lives. That’s true of the government, people across the country, and medics on the frontline.

The faster we get on top of this disease, the faster our society will be able to tackle this virus, and fewer lives will be lost. If we all work together, keeping our communities safe, we can and we will save lives.

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP