//Almost, but not quite, it was the reaction to it that did the damage.//
Indeed duggie. When the pandemic arose I criticised the UK government for abandoning its own well rehearsed plans for dealing with a pandemic and falling in line with the ludicrous reaction that was evident (almost) worldwide. A reaction, incidentally, unlike any other in response to a pandemic in history.
When I said that the so-called "cure" (trying to prevent the spread of an airborne virus and in the process trashing the economy, destroying businesses and prompting widespread long-term problems for the NHS, businesses and individuals) would eventually prove to be worse than the disease, many on here reacted by laughing at my remarks. Well you're not laughing now, are you?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/19/lockdown-may-cost-200k-lives-government-report-shows/
"The effects of lockdown may now be killing more people than are dying of Covid, official statistics suggest.
Figures for excess deaths from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that around 1,000 more people than usual are currently dying each week from conditions other than the virus."
It seems the current "overwhelming" episode of the NHS (it is regularly overwhelmed) has been caused as a result of measures that were taken to er... prevent it being overwhelmed. Oh the irony!