Almost 75,000 people could die from non-coronavirus causes as a result of the UK lockdown, an alarming report presented to the Government’s key advisors warns.
Research presented to the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) states 16,000 people lost their lives in care homes and hospitals in March and April, amid fears the NHS could be consumed by the pandemic.
A further 26,000 people will die within the next year if people continue to stay away from A&E and the social care sector continues to be plagued by problems, the Daily Mail reports.
Meanwhile, 31,900 people could die over the next five years due to missed cancer diagnoses, cancelled operations and the health impacts of a recession.
However, the report stresses that up to 400,000 people could have died with Covid-19 if the Government did not impose the strict nationwide lockdown in March.
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This figure could have rocketed to 1.4 million if the NHS had not been protected.
The shocking numbers, reportedly hidden in a 188-page document, were drawn up by civil servants at the Department of Health, the Office for National Statistics and the Home Office and presented to SAGE on July 15.
The official coronavirus death toll currently stands at 41,936, according to the DoH.
Professor Chris Gale, a cardiologist at the University of Leeds, wrote in the paper the message to stay at home was ‘taken literally’ and resulted in thousands of deaths that ‘should not have happened’.
He added: ‘The indirect death toll may well end up surpassing the direct toll of Covid.’
Research claims that around 12,500 people could pass away simply due to cancelled operations in the next five years, while 1,400 lives could be lost due to missed cancer diagnoses.
However, the document acknowledges the positive effects of lockdown, stating that around 4,000 fatalities will be avoided as a result of ‘healthier lifestyles in the short-term’.
Better air quality, fewer road accidents and less childhood disease will bring deaths down by around 1,000 across the year, the authors of the report believe.
Around 67,000 people are expected to lose their lives directly from Covid across the UK by next March – although this figure was calculated in July before infections soared and Boris Johnson imposed new restrictions on the nation.
The total number of deaths as a result of the pandemic will stand at 101,000 by next March, but this number could soar to almost 150,000 in five years.
An NHS spokesman said: ‘While some people had understandable concerns about coming forward for care during the pandemic, the NHS stayed opened to care for all who needed it.
‘For every person with Covid that NHS hospitals treated during the first wave, clinicians were also treating two non-Covid inpatients as well as 200,000 receiving cancer treatment and GPs carrying out more than 102million consultations.’
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