NEW: A&E admissions in England down by 56.6% in April. Overall hospital admission at record lows.

Huge concern in medical profession that this is a) contributing significantly to our very high excess death numbers b) storing up substantial problems for the future.

As I said at the weekend, the most important slogan change wasn’t “stay at home” it was abandonment of “protect the NHS”.

Future inquiry may conclude that with hindsight that was wrong message to send: that NHS is always there to protect us (not other way round).

and encouraging to stay away led to v negative health outcomes and excess death picture.

Increasingly clear that this and care home residents not being taken to hospital is part of capacity story. A story which is on the face of it a huge success: but at what cost?

Of course lots would have stayed away from hospital anyway, for fear of catching Covid. Again, with hindsight, inquiry may conclude that augmenting that trend with what could be considered an implicit encouragement to stay away, without sufficient qualification, was a mistake.

Again though, another opportunity to remember that we have to balance harm, that it’s important to look at public policy in the round, to remember that suppression of Covid death isn’t the only imperative, other death matters just as much and that has to be part of the picture.