Coronavirus: 40% of all calls taken by Samaritans now mention Covid-19 as a factor

The revelation comes as the News Letter reveals that the number of deaths attributed to factors outside of Covid-19 has risen sharply in the weeks since lockdown commenced in Northern Ireland.

According to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), the total number of all NI deaths in the four weeks up to April 24 was 1,763. Of these, 1,402 did not mention Covid-19 on the death certificate.

But the 1,402 non-Covid related deaths was a sharp increase from the 1,166 average number of deaths for this same period over the past five years.

Experts have speculated that the trend of rising deaths, which has been replicated across Europe, could be caused by people being too afraid to go to hospital with heart attacks and strokes, or suicides linked to self-isolation.

Samaritans Ireland spokesman Ciaran Brennan said: Samaritans Ireland spokesman Ciaran Brennan said Coronavirus is currently a factor in 4 out of every ten calls it takes across the island.

“Obviously, loneliness is a growing issue,” he said. “We’ve only just started tracking Covid as a specific concern but it is referenced on a large number of calls, around four out of 10. Coronavirus isn’t necessarily the main feature of most calls, but it’s in the background if not the foreground of quite a lot.”

He said calls also increase from 7pm, after the early evening news and government Coronavirus announcements.

Declan Cunnane, Chief Executive of the NI Chest Heart & Stroke charity, said it was too early to draw conclusions about the causes. But but he added that “we are very concerned that a proportion may be due to chest, heart and stroke conditions”.

“We know from speaking to doctors that the number of people seeking medical help in hospitals for heart and stroke conditions has declined dramatically, in some cases by up to 70%, yet we have no reason to believe that the number of people affected by these conditions is any lower than in previous years.

“We have also spoken to people who have delayed seeking heart treatment because of Covid-19 and who have been very lucky to avoid complications or even death, having received treatment just in time.”

Mr Cunnane said his charity fully supports the lockdown, but urged anyone with symptoms of a heart attack or stroke to call 999 immediately.

Dr Tom Black, chair of the British Medical Association in NI, agreed it was too early to draw firm conclusions about the deaths. “We know anecdotally that there are fewer people presenting at A&E and going to their GP, so we would absolutely encourage people to avail of these services,” he said. “All settings will be well managed to keep Covid and non-Covid patients apart.”

Health Minister Robin Swann and Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride recently said that although lockdown is having a significant impact on the health of Northern Ireland, many more people would have died without it.

They were asked at a recent press conference if the ongoing lockdown might ultimately cost more lives than it saves, for example with missed cancer referrals, reduced hospital attendances, obesity, mental health and poverty.

Mr Swann replied that the scaling back of some health services had been taken into account, on balance, adding that “we do have to take into account the effect that lockdown does have in relation to mental health”.

This was the reason he recently appointed a mental health champion, he added, with frontline workers dealing with Covid-19 a particular priority. The impact of lockdown on domestic violence also has to be taken into account, he added.

Dr McBride replied they are “all acutely aware of the impact” of lockdown but said it was “absolutely clear” that without it “many more people would have died, directly as a consequence of Covid-19”. Many others would also have died due to the NHS being overwhelmed, he added.

He was also “acutely aware” of the problem of individuals waiting for urgent treatment, and how aggressive chemotherapy has been postponed because it would make patients too vulnerable to Covid-19.

And he acknowledged the “huge impact” lockdown is having on the shielded population, who have been advised to stay at home for many weeks.

Dr McBride also acknowledged “the wider and longer term impact in terms of the psychological consequences” noting that “poverty has always killed people” and that “unemployment kills”.

All these issues “absolutely need to be part of our thinking and planning and preparation as we consider in the months ahead how we build our way back out of the actions that we have had to take” he added.

• Call the Samaritans free on 116 123 or on 0330 094 5717

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