The “fuel shortage” in the UK prevents doctors from visiting, or worsens the epidemic

The recent continuous rise in global oil and gas prices has triggered energy crises in many places, and the UK, which was previously a “green energy” student, has become the biggest victim. As the bottleneck of energy supply expands from natural gas to fuel, many medical staff in the country can only live in hotels on standby when they cannot refuel their cars. This has made the country’s epidemic prevention and control situation worse.

In fact, since last week, British car owners have started lining up to buy gasoline fuel. On the one hand, the high natural gas price has caused the price of fuel to rise. In order to protest the excessive fuel price, the truckers’ guild went on strike. As a result, the transportation capacity of oil products has further declined, and the "oil shortage" has intensified. In the process, the medical staff who needed to drive to the clinic suffered the most.

Although, according to the guarantee supply agreement, the fuel of the British emergency ambulance can still be guaranteed, but the transfer service of non-emergency patients has been suspended, and it is more difficult for family doctors to visit the clinic. Some doctors can only stay in hotels near the service area and are on standby for 24 hours. As a result, officials from the British National Health Service (NHS) have begun to call on local governments to take measures to prevent people from rushing to buy gasoline in order to give priority to ensuring the effective operation of key medical services. In particular, when the severe winter weather is approaching, ensuring that there is enough vehicle fuel to transport patients has become a top priority.

The British government therefore stated that it might issue short-term visas to foreign drivers to alleviate the “driver shortage” in the transportation sector, thereby ending the vicious cycle of the fuel supply market. The rumors of insufficient supply are not true. The government has the ability to guarantee the demand for fuel in the whole society. Even when necessary, it will be possible to mobilize military forces to urgently participate in tank truck driving services to ensure that gas stations in various places can maintain normal supplies.

NHS officials also pointed out to the media that if medical staff cannot go to work and go to the clinic normally, the health and life safety of patients will not be completely guaranteed. This will bring great hidden dangers and risks in the environment where the new crown epidemic is still continuing. Destructive, so it makes people have to worry about it. In fact, under the epidemic, the normal order of treatment for many patients has been disrupted. Once more medical staff are unable to arrive in Hong Kong in time, the mood may deteriorate further.

Although, before the British Johnson has announced that it will consider temporarily increasing the tax rate, so as to provide additional funds for the medical department to increase the manpower in the current emergency situation, in order to alleviate the pressure brought by the epidemic. However, under the additional pressure of the energy shortage, the current troubles are more than expected. With the advent of the winter season, even greater troubles may have just begun.