The UK recorded more than 100,000 deaths and over 3.6 million cases since the pandemic began. The West Midlands is the 4th most infected region in the UK, Birmingham itself has seen over 80,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19.

Data from the national coronavirus infection survey shows that 38 per cent of cases in the West Midlands were caused by the new mutant strain, this is triple the percentage compared to the 11 per cent affected since December. It comes after the majority of the West Midlands moved into Tier 4 following our third national lockdown.

Almost all kinds of social and economic shock greatly affect the vulnerable and low-income households. We already know that the Covid-19 virus is predominantly more dangerous to the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions, as for the economy, Greater Birmingham and the West Midlands are at a very high risk of having an economic crisis. Many people have been made redundant as a result of employers needing to reduce their staff to cut costs. Many of these redundancies have affected low-income households, further increasing our economic crisis. Greater Birmingham has a low level of average household income compared to other core cities across the UK. The Index of Multiple Deprivation revealed that more than half of Birmingham’s population live in the most deprived 20% of areas in England.

Covid-19 has a domino effect on our healthcare and benefits system, housing, crime and mental health in our communities. Many companies in the West Midlands depend on government funding for their survival, there are also many ‘zombie’ companies which depend on low interest loans. ‘Zombie’ companies are those who are paying off the interest on loans and are vulnerable to bankruptcy. The closure of the entertainment industry and restaurants who depend on alcohol sales for profit have huge set-backs in revenue, as well as shops along the high street whose sales are largely from in person buys, rather than online purchases.

Tourism in the West Midlands accounts for an estimated 135,725 jobs and brings in around £860 million per year. Since the pandemic began, Birmingham has seen huge drops in revenue and the government has tried to support and inject liquidity into these sectors. If tourism doesn’t improve, it’s likely to get much worse over Easter and into the summer.

Testing has played a pivotal role in getting the economy back to normal, especially when it comes to travel abroad. To get your Fit to Fly COVID Tests, you can attend Your GP Circle for a premium testing service by clicking the link :Your GP Circle . If you are not located in Birmingham and are still looking for a COVID-19 test, you can visit one of our partners such as Harley Medic.

Our region is one of three UK regions with the highest level of risk exposure to a hard-Brexit because 12.2% of West Midlands GDP is at risk from negative trade-related consequences. Large redundancies across the region will not only create detrimental problems to households and public services, but will damage our community long term. Households receiving a smaller annual income leads to reduced consumption and the economy taking longer to recover.

We do not know how long Covid-19 will be around for, but with more than 5.8 million people across the UK having received their first jab of the vaccine, it’s a start to life returning back to normality.

For more information on how to stay safe during the pandemic, feel free to contact our friendly healthcare professionals and we will be happy to assist you.

Written and ed. by,

T Putterman