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Health Check: The retired doctor who’d want to die at home if he got Covid-19

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2020/04/08 GMT

The retired doctor who’d want to die at home if he got Covid-19

BBC World Service - Health Check, The retired doctor who’d want to die at home if he got Covid-19

The latest on the spread of Covid-19 in the USA

The retired UK doctor who would give up an intensive care bed for a younger patient; homelessness and Covid-19; The “Grandfather of Allergy” dies, aged 108

We hear from a retired doctor in the UK who says he wouldn’t want to take up an intensive care bed if he got seriously ill with Covid-19. Breathing problems can result from the infection – especially in the elderly – so respirators are in demand. 69 year old Dr Lyn Jenkins is in good health – but wants critical care beds to be prioritised for young people and palliative care to be provided for anyone who wants to die at home. 

Studio guest Professor Matthew Fox from Boston University explains how Massachusetts is stepping up its contact tracing to try and limit further infections. 

More than three billion people around the world are now living under lockdown. In the UK many homeless people have been housed in hotels – but have limited access to healthcare and the medication which helps them to stay off street drugs. We hear how volunteers are bringing vital supplies to these vulnerable people. 

And we mark the long and productive life of the 108 year old “Father of Allergy” Dr William Frankland – who helped to popularise the pollen count, worked with the man who discovered penicillin Alexander Fleming and had his own brushes with death because of allergies. 
 
(Image: Nurse holding elderly woman's hands. Credit: Ocskaymark/Getty Images)
 
Presenter: Claudia Hammond 
Producer: Paula McGrath
  

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