Covid-19: A&E visits in England fall by 25% in week after lockdown

Attendances at emergency departments in England have fallen significantly since the covid-19 lockdown, sparking concern that some people may be harmed by not accessing treatment. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine said that the public should not be frightened of going to emergency departments after figures showed that they saw 89 584 attendances in the week after the lockdown (March 23-29), down 25% on the 120 356 seen the previous week. Compared with the last week in February (24 February to 1 March), when attendances were 177 370, visits to emergency departments after the lockdown were down 49%, statistics from the Emergency Department Syndromic Surveillance System: England (EDSSS) showed.1 Only pneumonia cases increased in the week the lockdown began. In every other indicator, including …