Maajid Nawaz: Covid tunnel vision risks creating problems we're unprepared for
29 December 2020, 13:33
Maajid Nawaz: Covid tunnel vision risks creating problems we're unprepared for
This is the moment Maajid Nawaz warned LBC listeners that the UK's handling of Covid risks "creating multiple other problems that we haven't yet even started to prepare for".
Meanwhile, doctors across the country have warned hospitals are becoming overwhelmed amid a surge in coronavirus patients over the Christmas period, as they urged the public to stick to lockdown rules.
Hospitals in England are now dealing with more Covid-19 patients than during the peak of the first wave, with figures showing there were 20,426 in NHS hospitals on Monday compared with 18,974 recorded on April 12.
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Maajid said: "This tunnel vision is having what in economics is referenced as negative externalities. It's having negative consequences that were unintended.
"In our desire to kill Covid we are in danger of creating multiple other problems that we haven't yet even started to prepare for, not least in the economy but also in mental health."
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Maajid then brought attention to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health reporting rises in cases of eating disorders in children and young people compared to last year.
He also argued issues such as suicides, child abuse and domestic violence had been exacerbated by lockdown.
