I keep seeing stuff about why are we bothering to save the elderly and ill. And also on my local FB group posts thanking key workers for "protecting the elderly". FFS! As if the poor medical staff/supermarket workers are doing all this and the country is shutting down to save 90-year-olds... or even 70-year-olds.
No - it's not that anybody thinks the elderly and vulnerable are worth more than anybody else, it's that they are more likely to occupy a hospital bed for longer and overwhelm the NHS.
In Italy they have communicated rather bluntly that anyone over a certain age is not going to be taken to hospital. Full stop. Yet still we have people here complaining that care homes have been told not to send very elderly/demented residents to hospital at this time.
Fwiw I am a shielded person (not that old!) and I perfectly understand that the reason I'm being asked to do this is because if I fall ill I'd be a nuisance patient, lingering around for ages and occupying a ventilator (if available) for a longer period than a person without any conditions.