The good news is that interventions and social distancing are working.
An analysis by researchers at Imperial College London has found that, across 11 countries, since the beginning of the epidemic, 59,000 [21,000-120,000] deaths have been averted due to interventions.
Keeping up the interventions is estimated to save in the long term up to 40.6 million people who would have died but for restricting the spread.
Whilst we might be critical of the tardiness of some governments in their response to the pandemic, the message is clear; intervention works.
More needs to be done. In the United Kingdom there is an urgent need to ensure that front-line health workeres get the protective equipment they need.
It is also vitally urgent that testing kits are rolled out as promised, not just for health and social care workers but for the population.
Many more lives can be saved if this is done. With testing for immunity, we can get a better picture of the spread and development of immunity. Those people who have developed immunity then can return to work and help others.
The death tolls we are seeing are scary enough, but they are nothing to the figures we will be seeing if governments had not imposed social restrictions.
An analysis by researchers at Imperial College London has found that, across 11 countries, since the beginning of the epidemic, 59,000 [21,000-120,000] deaths have been averted due to interventions.
Keeping up the interventions is estimated to save in the long term up to 40.6 million people who would have died but for restricting the spread.
Whilst we might be critical of the tardiness of some governments in their response to the pandemic, the message is clear; intervention works.
More needs to be done. In the United Kingdom there is an urgent need to ensure that front-line health workeres get the protective equipment they need.
It is also vitally urgent that testing kits are rolled out as promised, not just for health and social care workers but for the population.
Many more lives can be saved if this is done. With testing for immunity, we can get a better picture of the spread and development of immunity. Those people who have developed immunity then can return to work and help others.
The death tolls we are seeing are scary enough, but they are nothing to the figures we will be seeing if governments had not imposed social restrictions.
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