spoke to carole sykora college just on the dean of medicine at the university of buckingham he stressed the importance of starting to prioritize those in need of urgent treatment. 1st of all people stay away because that's right and stay home protect the n.h.s. save lives that's been the slogan for the last month that petrified to go to the g.p. that would get them into the diagnostic pathway operated surgeons have been idle for the last few months everything's been on risk risp are actually control there until age a sweet scan intensive care and so on so we've got a whole cohort of cancer patients from april that haven't been diagnosed yet they're going to be diagnosed hopefully in may we're moving round to that now and then they'll come on the last 2 or 3 months worth of patients all need surgery radiotherapy chemotherapy so prioritizing them getting through the system is really the key. to most of our the international still ahead an order from the u.s. president has got some fearful of creating new infection all spots with thousands of workers already confirmed this having been 19 t

can speak now to professor karol sikora, founding dean and professor of medicine at the university of buckinghamh organisation. professor, thank you forjoining us on bbc news. i start by asking you, could the uk, do you think my nearing its peak in terms of coronavirus cases? it looks that way, doesn't it? it does. i have been eagerly glued to my computer at two o'clock every afternoon for the last two days, which is the time the government releases the incidents in the last 24 releases the incidents in the last 2a hours. there's been a blip at the weekend, a sudden rise on saturday, that's probably the way the data is collected, it's not perfect. but it's gone down again. today it went down significantly. so, the projection is that today we are going through the peak. it's a bit ofa going through the peak. it's a bit of a plateau from it's like the high plateau, and the numbers bounce around always in a pandemic. and we wait and they come down. and i predict that by the end of the week, they will be down. this is the incidents, the incidents in terms of coronavirus tested patients who are mainl

spoke to carole sykora an ecologist and the dean of medicine at the university of buckingham you stressed the importance of starting to profile as those in need of urgent treatment 1st of all people stay where it is that's right and stay home protect the n.h.s. save lives that's been the slogan for the last month that petrified to go to the g.p. to get them into the diagnostic pathway operated surgeons have been i'd also the last months everything's been on risk response to control there until a bittersweet scan intensive care and so on so we've got a whole cohort of cancer patients from april that haven't been diagnosed yet they're going to be diagnosed hopefully in may we're moving round to that now and then they'll come on the last 2 or 3 months worth of patients or need surgery radiotherapy chemotherapy and so prioritizing them getting them through the system is really the key. now as that tertiary industry suffers the local effect is leaving tens of thousands of workers on the other side of the world without jobs it's reportedly seen british retailers cancel nearly 2 and a half 10000

you spoke to karole sykora i don't call it just on the dean of medicine at the university of buckingham in the u.k. you stressed the importance of starting to approach those in need of urgent treatment. 1st of all people stay away because they're frightened stay home protect the n.h.s. save lives that's been the slogan for the last month they're petrified to go to that tree that would get them into the diagnostic pathway operative theatres have been idle for the last month everything's been on risp or a tree control there until it's a suite of intensive care and so on so we've got a whole cohort of cancer patients from april that haven't been diagnosed yet they're going to be diagnosed hopefully in may we're moving round to that now and then they'll come on the last 2 or 3 months worth of patients all need surgery related therapy chemotherapy so prioritizing them and getting them through the system is really the key. stranded and denied entry to a number of caribbean countries a u.k. cruise ship finally managed to dock off cuba their line of call burma has been stuck at sea route for mo

by the man himself former director of the cancer program and professor of medicine at the university of buckingham carroll sykora and he told me that we do need to lift them up down to concentrate on other diseases. it's like a dam you open the dam the water flows out and floods the valley and it gushes down and we can't cope with all those patients who are going to have to work related to the evening and or weekends around the place to do it involve the private sector there are all sorts of ways of of getting round it but it's got to be done quickly the calculation of university college this morning it's about right that's contingent on maybe just a 6 week delay if it was a 6 month delay let's say there's a the virus just doesn't go away for a long period of time we have to keep hospitals working just on cue bid we're going to get stuck again on a 6 month delay could cause 50000 deaths from cancer so we have to try and get moving and can you reassure people that it is safe because the government says that treatments can start up again there are indeed adverts calling on people to see their doctor

council program and professor of medicine at the university of buckingham carroll sykora thank you very much indeed for being with us let's talk about those cancer deaths to begin with 800000 nor what what what is driving that is it people staying away or treatments being perspire own it's a combination 1st of all people stoically that's right and stay home protect the n.h.s. save lives that's been the slogan for the last month they're petrified to go to the g.p. that would get them into the diagnostic pathway operate 30 years have been idle for the last month everything's been on risp or a tree control there until it's a sweet kind of intensive care and so on so we've got a whole cohort of cancer patients from april that haven't been diagnosed yet they're going to be diagnosed in may we are moving round to that now and then they'll come on last 2 or 3 months worth of patience. it's all need surgery radiotherapy chemotherapy so prioritizing them getting through the system is really the key all the less that's extra pressure then again the huge pressure of already seen on the n.h.s. and

cancer program and professor of medicine at the university of buckingham carroll sykora and he told me that we do need to lift the lockdown to concentrate on other diseases it's like a dam the dam the water flows up and floods the valley and it gushes down and we can't cope with all those patients we're going to have to work related to the evening and we can surround the place to do it involve the private sector there are all sorts of ways that of getting round it but it's got to be done quickly the calculation of university college this morning it's about right that's contingent on maybe just a 6 week delay if it was a 6 month delay let's say there's a the virus just doesn't go away for a long period of time we have to keep hospitals working just strong too good we're going to get stuck again on a 6 month delay could cause 50000 through cancer so we have to try and get moving can you reassure people that it is safe because the government says that treatments can start up again there are indeed adverts calling on people to see their doctor if they suspect anything is wrong. absolutely

i'm joined now by professor karol sikora — an 0ncologist and professor of medicine at the university of buckinghamrst of all to that grim milestone that we have reached of 20,000? it's not good. but if you look at the figures and smooth them overfor look at the figures and smooth them over for day—to—day variation, today it is quite high, probably because yesterday was a friday. there are all sorts of artefacts in the data collection. i suspect tomorrow, we will see it down, monday a bit up and then gradually, compared with each week, each friday to saturday it has gone down since the peak. and infections are going down, which is great. hospitals are now free with quite a few spare beds. the covid disaster has moved through, so there is capacity for hospitals to take patients with other serious illness and get back to the work of the nhs that it and get back to the work of the nhs thatitis and get back to the work of the nhs that it is designed for, to deal with other serious illnesses. but what about in the context of that figure that we had a month ago, the chief scientific adviser sir patrick v

let's take a look at these figures now with karol sikora, professor of medicine at the university of buckinghamhink we are coming out. there are three factors to look at. first of all is the number of new cases. that is definitely falling. the problem is it is masked by the fa ct the problem is it is masked by the fact that we are doing more testing, which is good but it means we get more cases. but if you calculate it, there is a trend downwards. the second thing is hospitalisation numbers. that is really going down. the nhs has plenty of critical care beds. it really has done remarkably well at opening up the nhs for covert patients. and then the third thing either deaths. —— covid—19 patients. sadly, although the debt represent personal human tragedies, the way we count them is varying. at the way we count them is varying. at the start we didn't include care homes and i'm sure we will hear about that. 0nce homes and i'm sure we will hear about that. once you put in the care homes, you allow for weekend factors where the death certification gets a bit rocky, and you get more deaths ona bit ro

professor karol sikora is an oncologist and dean of medicine at the university of buckingham, he's also cancer over the next year. do you believe that is about right based on the indicators you have been seeing? absolutely, and it critically depends when we can get back to business as normal. in april we would expect 30,000 people to be diagnosed with cancer. so far, looking at the figures, it is probably only going to be around 4000 people diagnosed with cancer. that is a real discrepancy. how do we get around it? we have got to get business started again. surgery is the main diagnostic for cancer, getting a biopsy. the number of biopsy is going to the lab has dwindled this month. if we can get it next month, it is not too bad, we will catch up, but if it takes three orfour months, the backlog will catch up, but if it takes three or four months, the backlog will be horrendous for radiotherapy and chemotherapy and so on. there was more than 6000 patients who have been newly diagnosed not getting proper treatment, also people who we re proper treatment, also people who were already in th

with me is karol sikora, who is professor of medicine at the university of buckingham.ow infectious it is believed covid—19 is if left unchecked, and how effective in bringing down the infection rate you believe the lockdown has been? the lockdown has been incredibly effective. there is a magic number called the r0, which is the infectivity. 0ne a magic number called the r0, which is the infectivity. one person could infect 2.6 people at the beginning of the lockdown, and now it has gone down to under one, which is great. it means the lockdown is working. the problem is how we get out of lockdown, and do we do it slowly or fast? but we are going to learn from the european countries coming out this week. it is a tremendous mentoring exercise for us. to me, three weeks' time seems quite a long time andi three weeks' time seems quite a long time and i would hope that if the figures get better, and we would like them to get much better. 0nce the death rate start dropping, i hope ministers may reconsider things to get us going a bit earlier, may be in two weeks' time rather

we can speak now to karol sikora, professor of medicine at the university of buckingham., are you reassured,?|j think so. it depends on the critical oxygen level. the emphasis in intensive care is maintaining oxygen levels in the air sacs at the end of the lung. these get inflamed, the reaction we have to the coronavirus is different. some people, no symptoms. 0ther is different. some people, no symptoms. other people like the cold, and other people requiring intensive care. we cannot predict who will go which way. so i think boris is clearly stable, we are told he is not on a ventilator which is great news. the outcome is better if you do not have to go on a ventilator and hopefully he is a bouncy guy, i suspect by tomorrow or the day after he will be out of intensive care and a national sigh of relief if he does. let's also talk about what is going on with infections, with death rates as well. we understand that what you have said that he could be... my prediction is the seventh. we are at a plateau phase. the figures bounce around about this simply because of that coll

cancer program and professor of medicine at the university buckingham carol sykora and he told me that we do need to lift the lockdown to concentrate on other diseases. it's like a dam you up in the dam the water flows out and floods the valley and it gushes down and we can't cope with all those patients we're going to have to work related to the evening and weekends around the place to do it involve the private sector there are all sorts of ways of of getting round it but it's got to be done quickly the calculation of university college this morning it's about right that's contingent on maybe just a 6 week delay if it was a 6 month delay let's say there's a the virus just doesn't go away for a long period of time we have to keep hospitals working just on cue bid we're going to get stuck again on a 6 month delay could cause $50000.00 deaths from cancer so we have to try and get moving and can you reassure people that it is safe because the government says that treatments can start up again there are indeed adverts calling on people to see their doctor if they suspect anything is wrong.