The NHS, our doctors and hospitals, only has a certain amount of money, medicines, equipment, buildings and people available to it. These are called resources.

If coronavirus makes lots and lots of people seriously ill and they need to go to hospital, they take up resources. Because covid is an infectious disease and causes people to need emergency treatment to save lives, the NHS has to prioritise people with covid. This means the NHS has to reduce or even stop looking after other people. 

If the NHS runs out of hospital beds for example, it cannot magic up extra hospital beds. This means people who need beds will be turned away.

If we can stop the spread of covid, this reduces the number of serious illnesses, and prevents the NHS being ‘overwhelmed’, meaning everyone can access their doctors and hospitals like normal.

This section has been fact checked with:

• Open Access Government a digital publication that provides an in-depth perspective on key public policy areas from all around the world

• The British Medical Journal whose expertise extends from publishing and medical education to clinical decision support and events to enhance day to day decision-making and healthcare delivery.

• The Nuffield Trust is an independent health think tank. They aim to improve the quality of health care in the UK by providing evidence-based research and policy analysis and informing and generating debate.