Chris Whitty warns Britain faces 'prolonged period' of excess deaths trends now

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Britain will face a 'prolonged period' of deaths due to the pandemic, but not from the Covid virus itself, Sir Chris Whitty has said.

Instead England's chief medial officer said the nation faces a rising death toll from heart disease and cancer cases missed after people were encouraged to 'protect' the NHS during lockdown, and regular treatments were disrupted.

The comments came from 'technical report' published on the pandemic by both Sir Chris and Sir Patrick Vallance, chief scientific adviser to the Government.

In one section they advised their successors the speed at which Covid vaccines were developed could lull politicians into a false sense security for future pandemics, and that the UK might not be so lucky next time.