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Hospital physicians and public health experts have backed growing calls for a “circuit breaker” to halt the resurgence of Covid-19 and protect the NHS, as new signs emerged of a cabinet split.
As up to 95% of intensive care beds were reported to be full in some Liverpool hospitals, half with coronavirus patients, growing concerns arose about the overwhelming NHS. This week, Liverpool said it would cut back on non-urgent operations.
The Labor Party backed the idea of a circuit breaker, a brief lockdown that cuts off some social contact, on Tuesday, but cabinet ministers are understood to be divided on its effectiveness and the desire to protect the economy.
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Rishi Sunak made it clear that a national blockade of any duration would have significant and potentially irreversible economic costs.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, who chairs the Covid-19 operations committee, are the most frightened by the increase in the number of cases and the most open to a circuit breaker. . New daily laboratory confirmed infections in the UK hit a new record of 19,724 on Wednesday.
There are fears that a shutdown will extend beyond two weeks to aid in its effectiveness, and that high-level restrictions will have to continue afterward in many parts of the UK.
“It doesn’t change the fundamental pathway of the virus, it’s just a delay,” said a Whitehall source. “What you really need is to design a version of the normal that will help you through the winter.”
Even the most skeptical of a circuit breaker admit that more drastic action cannot be ruled out. “It is a last resort,” said a cabinet minister.
A cabinet source added: “No one is excited about this. Everyone is concerned about the crash, but also concerned that the virus is out of control. Cabinet camps are not easy. “
The Association of Hospital Consultants and Specialists, which represents 3,500 senior doctors in hospitals, told The Guardian on Wednesday that a series of mini-closures lasting two to three weeks across the UK could be necessary for the population to pass winter without the NHS being overwhelmed. and buy time for a coronavirus vaccine.
“We are in favor of a circuit breaker,” said Claudia Paoloni, association president and intensive care consultant in Bristol. “Unfortunately, we find ourselves in an inimitable situation where one thing we can do to buy ourselves some time and suppress it to a more manageable level again.
“Covid is increasing in all areas. Therefore, we must slow down everywhere to try to reduce the extent of Covid’s growth to a manageable level. That would give us time to improve our testing capacity and allow us to keep hospital beds free for elective work. “
If a circuit breaker was not introduced as a matter of urgency, the government had to order a prolonged return to the type of total lockdown established in the spring, Paoloni added. “The circuit breaker should start as soon as possible. To get through the winter … you may need a series of circuit breakers to keep the transmission suppressed. “
The British Medical Association said it supported a short-term temporary lockdown, but only as part of a new “robust prevention plan” that involves stronger restrictions than the three-tier system Boris Johnson announced this week, and public health messages. clearer to encourage compliance.
Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the BMA council, said: “The national blockade was lifted earlier without any strategy on how to contain the disease afterwards, so it is not surprising that the government and the country are again in this terrible position.” .
Sue Crossland, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, speaking in a personal capacity, said some hospitals were at a tipping point. “A circuit breaker can act as a pressure valve to release much-needed breathing space.”
The Royal Society for Public Health said that a circuit breaker would save many lives. “The virus is out of control in much of England and most scientific opinion is that action must be taken quickly, and indeed likely overdue, if we are to avoid thousands of unnecessary deaths,” said Christina Marriott, her executive director.
Katrina Stephens, director of public health in the Oldham district, where there is an increase in infections, said a circuit breaker was needed during the October semester. “I think infection rates have reached a level where the circuit breaker approach could be a good measure,” he said.
However, health officials acknowledged that time was running out to minimize disruption to schools should a circuit breaker be used. Cabinet ministers underscored Johnson’s commitment not to close schools and incompatibility with a circuit breaker lasting more than the half-term week. Keir Starmer, a Labor leader, said he would prefer that schools remain open.
Speaking in the Commons, Sunak said that any form of national blockade would cause “significant damage” to lives and livelihoods. He said the evidence still supported a tiered regional approach. “The whole country would suffer, instead of targeting that support to avoid a lockdown in parts of the country where virus rates are low.”
