The shattering price of lockdown: Huge impact of curbs on our health and economy is revealed after a year of Covid restrictions… as EU vaccine block threatens to hit Britain’s rollout for MONTHS

• Pandemic measures are costing the UK £500million every day in lost output 
• The NHS waiting list has soared to a record high of nearly 4.6million
• Pubs and restaurants are losing an estimated £1.7billion a week 

The appalling cost of a year of draconian Covid restrictions and lockdowns is laid bare today.

On the eve of the anniversary of Boris Johnson‘s original ‘stay at home’ order, in-depth analysis by the Mail shows the sheer extent of the economic, social, educational and healthcare damage.

Pandemic measures are costing £500million a day in lost output, while adding £1billion a day to the national debt. And a feared EU blockade on vaccines could derail the phased plan to end the lockdown.

Pandemic measures are costing £500million a day in lost output, while adding £1billion a day to the national debt

Brussels commissioner Mairead McGuinness yesterday confirmed such a ban would be ‘on the table’ at an EU summit on Thursday. Experts say a total embargo could set back the UK vaccination programme by two months.

As MPs, business leaders and campaigners last night urged Mr Johnson to rule out using lockdowns in any future health crisis:

• A record 844,285 Covid jabs were administered on Saturday;
• Defence Secretary Ben Wallace claimed a vaccine export ban would damage the EU’s international reputation;
• Amid signs of a third wave of the virus in Europe, he warned it was premature to book foreign holidays;
• The NHS announced trials of tests to detect dangerous mutations of the virus;
• A government scientist said social distancing should stay until everyone had been vaccinated;
• More than half of Germans and almost two thirds of the French say they will not take the AstraZeneca jab amid scare stories about its efficiency;
• The daily coronavirus death toll rose by 33 yesterday, taking the weekly average down by more than a third.

Today’s lockdown audit illustrates the crippling impact that 12 months of curbs have had on swathes of the economy, with pubs and restaurants losing an estimated £1.7billion a week, and some 15,000 shops expected to never reopen.

Pubs and restaurants are losing an estimated £1.7billion a week, and some 15,000 shops are expected to never reopen

The grim Covid death toll, which yesterday hit 126,155, is well known. But today’s analysis also reveals the dire impact of the past year on the nation’s health. The NHS waiting list has soared to a record high of nearly 4.6million, with 300,000 waiting more than a year for treatment.

On cancer, 44,000 fewer patients started treatment last year and there were 4.4million fewer life-saving diagnostic tests. An extra 6,000 people died of heart disease and stroke. Mental health services saw a 27,000 rise in individuals seeking support, while child eating disorders doubled.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the current, and third, lockdown had to be the last.

‘We must plan and make changes now to avoid this ever happening again,’ he said. ‘The cost has been far too high.

A feared EU blockade on vaccines could derail the phased plan to end the lockdown 

‘The damage to the economy has been, and continues to be, enormous. But there have also been huge consequences for people’s health and mental health. We cannot allow ourselves to get caught out like this again.’

A fellow Conservative, Sir Charles Walker, said ministers should have adopted a different approach to shielding the vulnerable.

Sir Charles, vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee for backbench Tories, said: ‘We cannot afford to let it happen again – the first lockdown should have been the last. We have had a situation where people have not wanted to ask the question about the wider impact because they know they would not like the answer. But whether you look at the economy, mental health or education, the damage has been massive and unsustainable.’

Former Cabinet minister Esther McVey also urged the PM to accelerate the exit from lockdown to limit further damage.

Andrew Goodacre, chief executive of the British Independent Retailers Association, said: ‘It is crucial that this lockdown is the last one.

‘Businesses cannot afford to keep going through a process of opening and then closing after only a few weeks or months.

Government sources pointed out that the Prime Minister had designed a ‘cautious’ route out of lockdown in the hope it would be ‘irreversible’

‘The full impact of this lockdown will not be known until the summer, but we can be sure that many will have lost their jobs, which is why the Prime Minister must consign lockdowns to history.’

Rachel de Souza, Children’s Commissioner for England, said: ‘Our children have borne the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic. They have made so many sacrifices – adapting to home-learning, missing friends and relatives, not being able to do so many of the things children love to do. Their lives have been disrupted and many have struggled.’

Government sources pointed out that the Prime Minister had designed a ‘cautious’ route out of lockdown in the hope it would be ‘irreversible’.

Mr Wallace said yesterday: ‘None of us want to have lots of draconian measures but this is an unprecedented global pandemic which has cost tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, of lives around the world.’ 

Source: DailyMail By JASON GROVES POLITICAL EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL

Support families fighting financial toxicity of cancer – here.