Lockdowns are making the next pandemic deadlier

“Members of the public should ensure that their immune system is in top shape regardless. If Boris seeks a long-term plan to protect the NHS once COVID is defeated, this should be number one on his list.”

There is roughly one pandemic every ten years; whilst modern medicine has certainly reduced the number of pandemics that would have happened over the last couple of generations, an increasingly globalised world – where every corner of the globe is accessible from the nearest airport – will likely counteract this advancement. Early last year, the planet witnessed the dark cloud of COVID-19 enlarge to cover its entire surface in a matter of weeks (although China lying to the world that the skies were clear played no small role in the spread of the disease).

In the interim period between pandemics, the world is frequently struck by epidemics, which can often be described as regionalised outbreaks of disease, such as the Ebola virus in Western Africa from 2013 to 2016. Whilst epidemics are largely present in undeveloped/developing nations, resulting from unsanitary conditions (Cholera is a serial offender), they do sometimes materialise in the developed world, such as taking the form of a relatively lethal flu season. This happened in the United States between the winter of 2017 – 2018, claiming the lives of 60,000 people. 

This is why the Zero-COVID strategy in all but name taken by the UK Government is doomed to fail. Even if the Coronavirus is fully eradicated, the precedent has been set for another round of destructive lockdowns whilst the scientific community rushes to invent a vaccine the next time a new disease crops up. But diseases are older than mankind itself – we’ve had to learn to live with them since our species was born. 

Luckily, nature provided us with an armoury for battling such pathogens: the immune system. For all the war-like rhetoric spewed by government ministers in daily-news briefings, only our white blood cells can take such a vicious stance, and apply the appropriate methods, against this invisible foe. A vaccine is necessary if the disease is capable of overpowering this internalised defence system, which is the case for those who are vulnerable to COVID-19, as well as those who receive the annual flu jab - just to be on the safe side.  

Otherwise, members of the public should ensure that their immune system is in top shape regardless of whether a pandemic/epidemic is happening or not. If Boris seeks a long-term plan to protect the NHS once COVID is defeated, this should be number one on his list. But, in the coddled, spoilt, and sterile Western nations, the strength of the average immune system has decreased with each passing generation. 

In 2017, the World Health Organisation reported that life expectancy in the UK was increasing, whilst simultaneously, levels of physical activity was low, with the rate of obesity and chronic disease being some of the highest in Europe. Much of the Continental mainland, despite having a healthier population, had a lower life expectancy than the UK.

What can be inferred from this? We are unhealthier, but modern medicine is keeping many alive – there is no incentive to pursue a healthy lifestyle to build a strong immune system given the safety net which society offers us from cradle to grave. 

As with numerous societal malaises, lockdowns have exacerbated this problem. The idleness which de-facto house arrest brings forces many to seek the consumption of unhealthy snacks to receive that hit of dopamine; the fridge and the supermarket are some of the only legal journeys allowed, hence the expression ‘the COVID stone.’ A lack of exercise does not help shed the pounds. Overweight people are at a greater risk of dying from COVID as there is enormous pressure being placed on the organs, negatively impacting the immune system. 

In addition, trapped indoors blinking in artificial light limits the efficiency of the immune system due to a lack of vitamin D. Lastly (though this list is endless), virtual Zoom meetings and social distancing do not expose people to the germs of others or the wider environment; the immune system needs to encounter these to strengthen itself, particularly during a child’s developmental years. No doubt the age of social media has corrupted the healthy development of the immune systems for an entire generation before the age of COVID, but this will only get worse. 

The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic will irreparably alter the societies we live in; the ‘new normal’ is here to stay. As the measures drafted in to fight the war on terror have remained with us nearly two decades post 9-11, the residue of lockdown will be an equally strong adhesive stuck to our daily lives. As any disease can emerge at any time, society will be in a permanent state of paranoia; social distancing will remain, children will be discouraged from seeing their friends outside of school – and even going outside. 

This pandemic (or I should say, the reaction to this pandemic) has changed the way our societies view disease. When penicillin and antibiotics were invented, mankind took little notice of disease, as the harm they could inflict was greatly reduced; but now, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction – we are now terrified of them. Ironically, this has weakened mankind’s resolve to tackle diseases, as the immune system has been deprived of the training it needs for when a more serious illness does invade the human body.

The common cold will become more common, and the conditions will be set for the next pandemic to be deadlier than it should be.