A doctor who appeared on This Morning claims that people have a 'moral responsibility' to stay home if they test positive with covid, as the NHS could become overwhelmed again.
It comes after rules were relaxed in the UK to adapt to Boris Johnson's 'Living with Covid' plans to "transition back to normality". As of February 24, 2022, people were no longer required to legally self isolate when testing positive for the virus.
Testing was also axed as it was announced people would no longer be legally required to test daily for seven days. However, they are still advised to stay at home for at least five full days. Free testing was also scrapped on April 1.
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NHS GP Dr Philippa Kaye appeared on the ITV morning talk show alongside hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary to talk about the impact of the new rules on the health service. She said: "You don't legally have to stay at home if you've tested positive or have symptoms, but I do feel like you have a moral responsibility to do so in order to prevent spread."
She warned of the dangers of overwhelming the NHS as she continued: "Unfortunately some people, even if that percentage is very small, will be getting unwell. And if you have a percentage of a large amount of people getting unwell, that still has the potential to overwhelm the NHS.
"I think it's really important to reassure people that the NHS is open. We don't want to be in a position where we were during that first lockdown where people didn't want to go to A&E even if they had symptoms of a heart attack or a stroke or sepsis. We don't want to be missing those, so if you do have those symptoms it is really important that you go."
The doctor went on to list ailments which would be 'valid' reasons to attend the hospital. These included:
- being in a big road traffic accident
- chest pains
- shortness of breath
- allergic reactions
- loss of consciousness
- seizures that don't stop
She said: "Those kinds of very serious illnesses is what we should be attending A&E for. Attending because you can't get a GP appointment is not a good reason to go. Calling 111 will help to advise you where is best to go for any symptoms you may be experiencing."
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