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One of the problems with a pandemic, beyond the obvious people who whether young and genetically vulnerable, very elderly, or those with comorbidities (often not as badly comorbid as one would expect), being at risk of death, is the effect this has on hospital systems.
Case fatality alone doesn't tell you that the people who need intensive care are often in comas there for weeks. That people are needing month long admissions. That a certain percentage of the ENTIRE world, are at risk of being in hospital at the exact same time, for a while
This hit, and the hit on bed capacity, maintains the occupancy of hospitals but with covid provinfg much of the fullness. All these patients require blood tests, scans, radiographers, nurses, oxygen, cannulas, constant PPE changes
In some hospitals oxygen delivery failed because we have never had so many patients on so much oxygen at once (bacterial pneumonias don't spread like wildfire) and flu certainly bad every winter, rarely wipes out whole communities every winter except with certain pandemic
strains. Therefore all tests, scans, outpatient appointments, operations, from cancer to heart failure, diabetes checks, cancer follow up &screening, emergency space for brain bleeds, strokes, maternal/labour haemorrhage, RTCs
is completely affected. For me to attend a hospital emergency, I have to physically carefully de-robe, clean, before being able to attend - a vital matter of minutes.
Beds have to be further apart, once an outbreak happens in hospital, whole wards are shut. people coming in for less life threatening reasons, are accidentally exposed to a virus that in their vulnerable state, can kill them.
We cannot reliably screen for early corona virus, meaning that negative tests in asymptomatic patients, may be incorrect, meaning days later whole wards have caught it off them. Staff are off sick, so staffing numbers are tight
or agency workers less familiar with the layout, where equipment is stored, or computer logins, have to be employed at short notice, further reducing efficiency, safety and bed capacity.
Arguments about dry numbers that don't reflect the genuine system overwhelm in hospitals, cannot be used to inform policy, and that is why there can seem to be a disconnect between what the stats say, and what the managers/decision makers are saying.
It is really important to try and spread the message about the indirect impacts of covid - the sooner we bring this virus to a standstill the sooner mental health and economies can improve. The sooner screening returns. The sooner operations return. The sooner women can have
2 people in with them for labour. The sooner people can undergo care for horrible accidents without lethal exposure to an additional infection. Look at what has happened despite gross lockdowns. Imagine the bodies piling up in hospital car parks
Waiting to be admitted, if some restrictinos had not been used. When we say people don't know anyone who has died, that is a success that has been brought about by slowing and hindering free and easy transmission of something that causes such profound disruption.
The difference between a pandemic illness and the ones we are more familiar with, is that most people coming to hospital don't give their heart failure or cancer to their ward neighbours and the staff who care for them....
