Comment
DAN WOOTTON
Fear of Covid-19 could change our way of life forever, so look at the facts and help the economy thrive again
IRRATIONAL fear could well become more dangerous than the coronavirus itself.
It’s fear rather than facts that will stop some people going back to work tomorrow.
It’s fear that could see our economy fail to recover from the biggest crash in 300 years.
It’s fear that may well see the travel and tourism industries collapse in a way that will make it impossible for anyone other than the super-rich to see the world easily again.
If you’re experiencing that fear, I don’t for one second belittle what you’re feeling.
After all, we are living through an unprecedented pandemic. The most tragic and shocking death figures are shoved in our face on an almost hourly basis. A very successful government campaign has warned for weeks that even leaving our house could cost our loved ones to lose their lives.
Today Chancellor Rishi Sunak has extended the government's generous furlough scheme that gives most workers up to 80 per cent of their wages until October. One could think staying at home for another five months may be the safest and most sensible answer.
But unless you are elderly or have an underlying health condition that is simply not the case.
The onus is on us to take responsibility and start firing up the economy again while social distancing.
I recommend reading a range of views from scientists and experts about the very low risk for vast swathes of the population in doing this.
Perhaps the most compelling on this issue has been Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter – chairman of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at the University of Cambridge – who says the risk of Covid-19 is “staggeringly low” for young people.
For example, just two children aged younger than 15 have died. Amongst the 17 million under 25s there have been just 26 deaths. By contrast, risk among those over 90 is 10,000 times as high.
These influenzas are indiscriminate. The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic largely protected those over 65, with a vast majority of the deaths occurring in previously healthy folk aged between 20 and 40.
However, this current pandemic will hit young people disproportionately in other ways.
Research by the New Economics Foundation released this week shows those under 25 are most than twice as likely to lose their jobs as a result of this crisis. BAME workers, women and renters in social housing are also far more exposed to the economic havoc lockdown will bring.
That’s why I believe it’s being compassionate to encourage those who are very likely to be safe to think about going back to work, ideally with the helpful statistics for those under 60 removing the degree of fear that currently exists for many.
The UK coronavirus death toll has risen to 32,692 after 627 more fatalities were recorded in the last 24 hours
Topics