Experts in the fields of health, academia and charity have warned that the lockdown in the UK is creating a runaway pandemic of anxiety and depression.

Paul Farmer, chief executive of the mental health charity Mind said “It’s no understatement to say that the nation is facing a mental health pandemic.”

The charity has seen a massive increase in visits to its website, with unprecedented volumes of calls to helplines that deal with issues ranging from self harm to suicide.

“It’s clear that our mental health is deteriorating across the board – from mild mental health problems right through to those reaching crisis point and even having to be hospitalised,” Farmer further commented.

Dr Adrian James, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, further warned “We’re in an unprecedented mental health crisis. Social isolation, loneliness, stress and anxiety, domestic abuse, bereavement, financial difficulties, unemployment and severe Covid-19 infection are all factors that have led to an increase in workload for mental health services.”

“Patients are experiencing more severe symptoms, and psychiatrists are seeing an increase in both emergency and urgent presentations compared to last year,” James noted.

Emma Thomas, CEO of YoungMinds, a parents helpline, said “The pandemic is deepening the crisis in young people’s mental health and there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that the impact could be significant and long-term.”

“Young people tell us that they’ve struggled to cope with the changes and loss of coping mechanisms brought on by the pandemic, with many experiencing social isolation, anxiety, and fears around their future,” Thomas noted.

University of Nottingham Professor Ellen Townsend, who has conducted extensive research into self-harm noted “We know that suicide ideation increased in young people in the first UK lockdown. There was a worrying signal that suicides in young people increased during the first lockdown.”

“We know that loneliness, social isolation, mental health issues have soared in young people,” she added.

Child behaviour expert Elizabeth O’Shea also warned that the lockdowns have “created a mental health ticking time bomb.”

Experts previously warned that lockdowns are a “panic measure” and a “monumental mistake on a global scale.”

“I believe the harm lockdown is doing to our education, health care access, and broader aspects of our economy and society will turn out to be at least as great as the harm done by COVID-19,” Infectious diseases expert and University of Edinburgh professor Mark Woolhouse has urged, noting “the cure was worse than the disease.”

Prior to the pandemic, there was already a suicide epidemic. Since the lockdowns, hospitals have reported an explosion in suicides and intentional injury.

Despite previous government denials that there are any plans to roll out COVID vaccine passports, reports have confirmed that every person vaccinated in two select areas of Britain will be offered exactly that as a ‘trial’ being rolled out with immediate effect.

The London Telegraph reports that biometrics firm iProov and cybersecurity firm Mvine have developed the vaccine passports, which will be optionally provided as an app on phones of those vaccinated.

The government will conduct the rollout in two local authorities, and monitor its application until March.

The report notes that the government has ploughed £75,000 into the trial already, which is claimed to be a way of monitoring who has had the vaccine.

Frank Joshi, director and founder of Mvine noted that while the project started as just a way of keeping a record of COVID tests, extra funding was pumped into it in order to turn it into a vaccine passport scheme.

“Originally we started off with this need to prove whether you’ve had an antibody test, but it can be equally used to demonstrate whether you’ve been vaccinated,” Joshi said, according to the report.

Andrew Bud, chief executive of the other company involved, iProov, said that the system will be integrated with the National Health Service, and could easily be rolled out to everyone in the country.

“We’re talking about a piece of remarkable technology that can be brought to bear and can be readily integrated with the NHS,” he said.

The development appears to be separate from the government contracts given to two other firms to develop COIVD ‘freedom passports’, which we reported on several weeks ago.

Last month, Britain’s vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi announced that the government had no plans to introduce immunity passports en mass, or place restrictions on those who do not take the jab.

This latest revelation puts Zahawi’s already dubious claim into serious doubt.

We also previously reported, back in November, on the UK government’s active plans to develop a QR code system to use as an ‘immunity passport’.

The report, stemming from sources close to the government, noted that “Those who refuse to get the Covid-19 jab would likely be refused entry to venues, as part of the same proposals.”

Other reports have suggested that an app already used prominently in the UK by people to book doctor and hospital appointments could implement a vaccination status section that will show whether a person has taken the coronavirus jab or not, and that businesses may use it to refuse entry to those who have not.

The spectre of so called ‘immunity passports’ is looming globally.

Yesterday it was revealed that Denmark is the latest country to announce that it is rolling out a ‘Covid passport’, to allow those who have taken the vaccine to engage in society without any restrictions.

Recently, the government in Ontario, Canada admitted that it is exploring ‘immunity passports’ in conjunction with restrictions on travel and access to social venues for the unvaccinated.

Last month, Israel announced that citizens who get the COVID-19 vaccine will be given ‘green passports’ that will enable them to attend venues and eat at restaurants.

A litany of other government and travel industry figures in both the US, Britain and beyond have suggested that ‘COVID passports’ are coming in order for ‘life to get back to normal’.

Sam Grant, campaign manager at the civili liberties advocacy group Liberty has warned that “any form of immunity passport risks creating a two-tier system in which some of us have access to freedoms and support while others are shut out.”

“These systems could result in people who don’t have immunity potentially being blocked from essential public services, work or housing – with the most marginalised among us hardest hit,” Grant further warned.

“This has wider implications too because any form of immunity passport could pave the way for a full ID system – an idea which has repeatedly been rejected as incompatible with building a rights-respecting society,” Grant further urged.

An elderly man in Switzerland has reportedly died after taking the COVID-19 vaccine, following the death of another person who took the shot in Israel.

According to Reuters, the man lived in a nursing home in Lucerne Switzerland, and was one of the first people in the country to take the Pfizer jab.

“We are aware of the case,” an official said, noting that the case has been referred to Swiss drugs regulator Swissmedic.

The report states that the man was administered the vaccine on Christmas eve, and soon complained of urethral and abdominal pain, before his blood pressure tanked and his pulse spiked.

He died on Monday.

Swissmedic claims that the man already had multiple illnesses, and that the death probably isn’t connected to the jab.

“Clarifications by cantonal health authorities and Swissmedic determined that, as a result of the illness history and disease course, a link between the death and the COVID-19 vaccine was highly unlikely,” it said in a statement.

“Neither the medical history nor the acute course of disease suggests a direct causal link between the COVID-19 vaccine and the death,” it added.

The man’s death certificate will therefore say he died of natural causes owing to the previous illnesses.

Responding to the death, Pfizer said “Serious adverse events, including deaths that are unrelated to the vaccine, are unfortunately likely to occur at a similar rate as they would in the general population of elderly and at-risk individuals who are currently being prioritized for vaccination.” 

The incident comes after a 75-year-old Israeli man reportedly died from a heart attack just two hours after receiving the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine.

Israeli health authorities have claimed there is no link between the man’s death and the vaccination, saying he had previous illnesses.

“A 75-year-old man from the north of the country suffering from active heart disease and malignant disease, who has undergone a number of heart attacks, was vaccinated this morning against the coronavirus and died at home shortly after the procedure,” an  Israeli Health Ministry statement read.

The two reported deaths come in the wake of many reports about adverse reactions to the vaccine globally.

Earlier this month, CNN reported that there would be deaths among elderly people who have taken the vaccine, and that it is to be expected, but shouldn’t be connected to the shot itself.