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Britain is battling the second corona wave and a mutation of the virus. In a few days, the final exit from the EU is scheduled. A huge double burden for the NHS health service: it takes more time.
In just a few days, Britain wants to cut its ties with the EU: as of January 1, the UK will leave the customs union as well as the EU internal market. The British health service NHS fears an immense double burden in view of the corona pandemic and therefore calls for a bit more postponement for the final exit from the EU.
In a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the umbrella organization NHS Confederation advocates extending the Brexit transition period by one month. Britain left the EU in early February. Since then, the transition phase has been put in place to clarify future business relationships. This phase ends at the end of the year.
Therefore, the exit would fall directly into the second corona wave, which Britain is currently fighting. According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 2.1 million people have contracted the virus since the pandemic hit the UK. A total of around 68,400 people died in connection with a corona infection.
“Precious weeks” for the healthcare system
A few days ago it was also announced that a mutation of the coronavirus that is said to be significantly more contagious is spreading, especially in London and the south-east of England.
The NHS warns in its letter that the number of new infections could rise again due to this mutation. The workforce itself is already tired and exhausted. The additional burdens of a “no-deal Brexit could overwhelm the NHS,” emphasizes the health service. That’s why Johnson should “extend the transition period by one month and buy the NHS some valuable extra weeks” to get the overloaded clinics “out of the danger zone.”
Because at the end of the transition phase, trade barriers and new tariffs threaten to take effect. The NHS fears that these “disruptive changes” could also hamper the supply of medicines and medical supplies.
NHS fears impending travel chaos
The consequences of becoming aware of the new Corona mutation have also demonstrated the effects that an interrupted movement of goods between the EU and Britain can have. Many countries, including Germany, had stopped traveling to Britain to prevent the mutation from spreading in the EU. France also stopped freight traffic at night from Sunday to Monday. The result: thousands of trucks got stuck in Dover, in the south of England, because they couldn’t cross the English Channel, that is, in the region where the new mutation is also spreading the most.
This travel chaos is just a small sample of the problems that lie ahead without a trade deal with the EU, the NHS said. These traffic jams could also hamper ambulances, an added difficulty in times of pandemic.
This chaos could be avoided by a joint trade agreement between Britain and the EU. Both sides have been negotiating for months and the deadline for a deal has already been extended several times. But there is still no compromise, and everything points to a no-deal Brexit.
