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Our report from the coronavirus front line spells out why the lockdown must stay

Editorial: It is true that there are hopeful signs, and clear evidence that these indicators are decelerating. But we should err on the side of saving lives

Saturday 11 April 2020 18:13 BST
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British medics are facing 'dangerously low levels' of PPE after the UK recorded Europe's highest daily hospital death toll
British medics are facing 'dangerously low levels' of PPE after the UK recorded Europe's highest daily hospital death toll

Most people have got the key messages about coronavirus by now, but we make no apology for driving them home with our report today from the front line. Shaun Lintern, our award-winning health correspondent, has filed an unflinching dispatch that captures the exhaustion, stress, sadness and heroism of doctors, nurses and cleaners in a London intensive care unit running at close to capacity.

Anyone who seeks still to minimise the seriousness of the epidemic should be disabused by his account. There are people who believe, for example, that the numbers are exaggerated, or that most of the victims of the virus are people who are already ill and likely to die soon anyway. They should read the stories of so many young and previously healthy patients struck down.

Others believe that the lockdown and social distancing measures are an overreaction that will do more economic damage than is justified by the number of lives saved. Again, our report is essential reading. We hear from people working at the edge of their endurance, and it is frighteningly clear that, had drastic measures not been taken to slow the spread of the virus, the NHS would have been overwhelmed, first in London and then probably elsewhere.

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