Each winter our NHS is struck by an ‘unprecedented’ number of cases of seasonal illness. Politicians talk gravely of the hard work done by our doctors and nurses, and ask the public to do what they can to help. Newspapers and scientists describe the influx of cases in meteorological terms – a ‘surge’, a ‘wave’, perhaps a ‘viral maelstrom’ – and the bugs themselves, which are biologically ordinary, are given glamorous names. This year, influenza A strain H3N2 became ‘superflu’.

We’re told the strain on the NHS this winter is unparalleled, but it’s really only slightly worse than last year. For the three decades I’ve worked in British hospitals, each winter is meant to be a uniquely terrible flu year. In actuality, every year largely resembles the one before. The overcrowding is a little worse, and this year some people are wearing masks over their chins, but nothing much changes.

A couple weeks ago, stories of superflu were everywhere. Wes Streeting had just asked the junior doctors to cancel their strikes, and it was no surprise that he wheeled out flu – and the politically minded doctors he employs in national posts – to speak of its danger. How could the juniors be so reckless, so indifferent to patient safety, as to strike........

© The Spectator