An 80 year old friend asked Dr Elaine Sugden ( a retired consultant oncologist) a number of questions about the spread of COVID-19. She checked the latest information from various sources.

We need to ask the questions, “What happens when we die? Where do we go next?” No one else is going to ask people these questions, but they are the most important of all.

Anaesthetists are some of the doctors looking after patients of all ages in the intensive care units where constantly some are dying from the effects of Covid -19. They urge us all to imagine we are in these patient’s situation and discuss our wishes NOW so that our families are prepared to help the doctors with the difficult decisions they have to make. A Consultant Anaesthetist has written:

The COVID-19 emergency makes end of life planning essential NOW - we are all at risk

In the UK most deaths have been among those already frail from old age or chronic illness. A few were young and in apparently good health. They died in hospital, alone apart from medical staff because no visitors are allowed. After death the body is sealed, no one can view the body. No funerals are allowed, just a cremation or burial. What then can we do?

Dr Rachel Clarke, a palliative care specialist, on the BBC Today Programme on March 27 emphasised the importance of the psychological aspects of facing the end of one’s life.