Important message for all

[LONDONER]

I didn't write the following.  I have cut and pasted it from another forum to which I belong.  It isn't meant to be directed exclusively at guys either, it is  equally appropriate to gals.

This was sent to me a short while ago, this was sent around all of the contacts of a doctor nephew of a family friend, in all honesty, it doesn't matter who sent it, the message could not be more clear, from the front line! Please please heed the warning! PAY ATTENTION.

I'm writing this from the middle of one of the most ridiculous night shifts. I'm really trying to not be hyperbolic when I say this, but the health service, specifically north London hospitals, is past breaking point. I cannot fully explain how much trouble we are in. All of our intensive care units are full. Barnet, Royal Free, UCLH, North Middlesex. All of our hospital beds are full. We have patients on the verge of death in A&E department because there's simply nowhere to put them if they need a ventilator. I'm not talking about the elderly and frail. I mean people in their 40s, 50s, 60s. We do not have the space in our hospitals nor the staff to look after any more patients. Not only covid patients, I mean anything. Please don't mix with other households. Not even your families. Not your friends. Not your mum or your dad. Not even if "I only see them" or "they don't see anyone else".

You may think people are being careful but the reality is there's no such thing. Any human contact will spread this virus, especially the new mutant strain. People are complaining that cancer services and routine operations are being put on hold because of lockdown and covid. This is so patently ridiculous a complaint but I need to address it. Hospitals are so overwhelmed dealing with emergency care right now that it is impossible to deal with anything else. It's not only covid emergency care, it's everything. This is the direct result and the logical conclusion of allowing the virus to rampantly spread through out communities as we have done.

I'm sorry if this sounds preachy, but it needs to be said. We need to take more responsibility for our own health and that of the rest of our local communities. We need to do the right thing. That's all this comes down to - doing the right thing. Not seeing other people. Not going into other people's houses. Don't invite people over. Not even to the garden. If you must see people, do it two metres away with masks. Forget whatever rules the government has made for us - it's clear they have largely not been based on what needs to be done to drive down infections. Just act as if everyone you know has just tested positive and you need to avoid them like - quite literally - the plague.