The government cannot just bury its head in the sand over rising Covid deaths

Editorial: Hesitancy about taking pre-emptive action is as foolish now as it was on the many previous occasions when the government did too little

(David Simonds)

Now that the supply of turkeys seems to have been secured, albeit at probable extra cost, there is perhaps nothing the nation would want for Christmas more than to be able to celebrate the festive season without resorting to masks, social distancing or self-isolation.

Covid-19 is very much still with us, still exerting extra pressures on the NHS and still, to put it bluntly, killing people.

It is not too early to ask whether some modest measures may be taken now to avoid Christmas being “cancelled” for the second year running, as well as safeguarding the health of vulnerable people.

The trends in mortality are beginning to run in the wrong direction. In the most recent figures, almost 1,000 people in the UK died in the week ending 5 November. This is the highest number of deaths since March. We’re close to the Christmas season, when people traditionally congregate indoors, meaning that the rise in figures is an extremely discouraging development.

Bitter experience teaches how rapidly growth in infections can overwhelm public health systems and the NHS. We also know that the ambulance service in some areas is unable to provide the help that people need. There are patients waiting for life saving treatment for hours rather than minutes.

Frontline staff and bodies such as NHS Providers and the NHS Confederation have been issuing the starkest of warnings for weeks. They have had little positive response from ministers. The prime minister is still sounding as unconcerned as ever, and is setting his face against implementing any of the so-called plan B measures. He will not commit even to mandatory face coverings or encouraging more people to work from home.

Such hesitancy about taking pre-emptive action is as foolish now as it was on the many previous occasions when the government did too little, and we ended up in harsher and longer lockdowns as a result – with all the damage to the economy and to health that they brought with them.

There is better progress being made on the rollout of the booster jabs, but nothing like the successes of earlier in the year. Again, there is a curious absence of urgency emanating from the government.

The immediate benefit of the vaccination drive in the spring was the reduction in people needing long-term hospitalisation, the reduction in very serious illness and fewer deaths from Covid for any given level of infection. Of course, long Covid and other complications can still be life changing, and short hospital stays are not unusual, but the broad picture was highly encouraging.

Now, however, things in the UK and across Europe are heading in the wrong direction. New restrictions are already in place in Austria and the Netherlands, and more will surely follow. This is now a clear and present threat to health. It is no time for boosterish talk and complacency. Boris Johnson’s stance that there is no need yet for plan B – face coverings and working from home – is starting to wear thin.

The vaccine programme should be cautiously extended to younger people, provided the best scientific and medical advice backs such a move on the balance of risks. There needs to be some sort of active campaigning to get the booster jabs in arms.

Our defences against the next wave of Covid are being allowed to weaken. Christmas is starting to look a little uncertain.