By Gavin Mackintosh-
The ONS has no records of the number of people in hospital who may have been dying with other illnesses before contracting Covid-19.
The Department Of Health told The Eye Of Media.Com that the statistics published by the Office Of National Statistics is all they have, but stated that the requested statistics can be looked at.
Rising numbers of hospital admissions have led to to a push for a second national lockdown expected to be announced next week. A proper examination of the make up of those in Uk hospitals has not been conducted, and the public have no complete information about those in hospital, except that they have COVID-19. However, members of Sage achieved a national lockdown in the Uk till December 2, saying it will save Christmas, otherwise hospitals will overflow if a short circuit break does not take place immediately.
However, statistics informing the British public about the breakdown of COVID-19 patients in hospital, including those who have reportedly died from the virus, is important. Information giving us a breakdown of patients in hospitals already dying of another illness is missing information from statistics. Information about patients with other underlying issues has been left out of published statistics leading up to this lockdown, but statistical information of those with other illnesses(known as commorbidities) was published throughout the first lockdown that started in March. Detailed information about those who were dying with other illnesses gives a fuller picture of the coronavirus crises facing the Uk.
Divided Opinion
The civil unrest in Parliament over this lockdown reveals the extent to which this lockdown has divided opinion. A one month lockdown to save lives can’t be a bad thing, and there are many who believe it should have been done sooner. Others say the first lockdown was eased too soon. The only missing bit of information is how much of the hospitalisation and deaths of patients in hospitals is due to COVID-19 or due to a real influence of COVID-19 spreading through infections. Only statistics can answer that question. The effects of a lockdown for a period even as short as a month will have effects on various groups of people.
Anger among unconvinced Mps about England’s lockdown led to a grilling of some of the government’s scientific adviser’s today.
Perverse
Science and Technology Committee chairman Greg Clark said it seems “perverse” that children’s sports teams outside school settings will not be allowed to meet under new restrictions “given the importance of exercise” and low incidence of transmission outdoors.
Sir Patrick said: “I think we’ve been very clear as to where we think the areas of transmission are most likely to be and we’ve also been very clear that an entire package which takes into account everything including interactions around events, becomes quite important – so it’s not just the event itself but what happens in and around it.
“And then it’s for policymakers to decide what policies they want to adopt on the basis of that.”
Mr Clark asked if it was something that should be looked at again, but Professor Chris Whitty said he and Sir Patrick gave “broad principles” to work with and others put together packages of measures.
He said: “If Patrick and I end up trying to unpick quite complicated packages that have been put together, that way disaster lies for everybody.
“So what we have to do is give broad principles which we have done, and that you accurately reflect some of the broad principles published in Sage minutes, and then packages have to be put together which actually are very difficult to do and I think everybody who’s doing this is balancing really difficult things and I think it’s not our job to make their lives even more difficult. These are difficult balancing acts.”
Transmission In Schools
The decision to keep schools open has sparked a separate controversy of its own. Many schools and education unions are in favour of all school academic moving online, but ministers believe the educational benefits of leaving schools open outweigh the risks.. When asked about transmission in schools, Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, said: “On balance of risk our view is firmly for children to be in school.”
He added that all the data at this point in time suggests that teachers are not a “high-risk occupation”.
On the effect that schools being open will have on the growth rate of the virus, he added: “The transmission in primary school children is a relatively small contribution, it won’t be zero but really pretty small.
“I think there’s more debate around secondary school – particularly older secondary school children say 17, 18, 19-year-olds.
“But, in a sense, then the societal question given the huge benefits to children. What are we actually, what is right balance for society?
“That’s, in my view, fundamentally a political question, but the reality is, in our view that the benefits to children are really clear.”
When asked about transmission in schools, Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, said: “On balance of risk our view is firmly for children to be in school.”
Transmission Risk Posed By Teachers
Prof Whitty said that all the data at this point in time suggests that teachers are not a “high-risk occupation”.
On the effect that schools being open will have on the growth rate of the virus, he added: “The transmission in primary school children is a relatively small contribution, it won’t be zero but really pretty small.
“I think there’s more debate around secondary school – particularly older secondary school children say 17, 18, 19-year-olds.
“But, in a sense, then the societal question given the huge benefits to children. What are we actually, what is right balance for society?
“That’s, in my view, fundamentally a political question, but the reality is, in our view that the benefits to children are really clear.”
The benefits to many other groups of not being bound by a lockdown are also really clear, only full information about hospitalisations and deaths from COVID-19 makes the lockdown reasonable and necessary. The country in general has to trust the government and hospitals to have made the right choice, but the public deserve to also have their opinions on this based on full facts.