Dr. Susan Coote:

There are people who have deteriorated quite significantly because of the lack of leaving their house. They have become very inactive and sedentary and we are starting to see the consequences of that. Maintaining physical activity is really important. If people sit on the couch all day, their balance will get worse, they will get weaker and they will be more at risk of falls. It is a vicious circle. We have new people being discharged from hospital, the people who deteriorated during the Covid pandemic, people with neurological consequences of Covid and people who missed out on care during the Covid period. The level of need is acute and much greater than it was three or four years ago.