The older you are, the poorer you are and the more long term medical conditions you have, the more likely you are to be admitted to hospital or to die, if those conditions progress or if you get any new acute illness, including COVID-19. This is a covert manifesto for age discrimination and discrimination against the old, sick and disabled.......... Nearly 12 million people in the UK are over 65 and 3 million are over 80. That's a lot of people to dismiss casually. These include our parents, uncles, aunts, and grandparents, our current or future selves. These are citizens who have contributed to society, families, workplaces and the economy. They are as entitled to protection and care as the rest of us. Unless the Covid-denialists and lockdown sceptics can serve up some useful solutions with their rhetoric, they need to stop the discriminatory dog whistles. I can guarantee if it were a member of their own family who got sick, they wouldn't be saying "they have a pre-existing condition so let them die".

David Oliver, an experienced NHS acute hospital consultant.