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LONDON: Britain will likely need to reintroduce some national coronavirus lockdown measures sooner rather than later, a leading epidemiologist said on Saturday (September 19), as new cases rose to their highest level since early May.
Neil Ferguson, a professor of epidemiology at Imperial College London and a former government adviser, told the BBC that the country faced a “perfect storm” of increasing infections as people returned to work and school.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday that he did not want another national lockdown, but that further restrictions might be necessary as the country faced an “inevitable” second wave of COVID-19.
“I think some additional measures are likely to be needed sooner rather than later,” Ferguson said.
It was reported on Friday that ministers were considering a second national lockdown, with new COVID-19 cases already at their highest level in months, hospital admissions rising and infection rates in parts of northern England and London.
“Right now we are at the infection levels that we were seeing in this country at the end of February, and if we leave it another two or four weeks, we will go back to the levels that we saw more in mid-March, and that is going to cause, or it could, cause deaths, “Ferguson said.
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Government data on Saturday showed 4,422 new cases, 100 more than Friday and the highest daily total since May 8, based on positive test results.
The actual infection rate is likely to be higher. Britain’s statistics agency said on Friday that around 6,000 people a day in England alone likely contracted the disease during the week through September 10, according to its random tests.
Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon asked Johnson to meet with her and the leaders of the Welsh and Northern Ireland delegate governments within the next 48 hours to try to secure coordinated action across different parts of the UK.
“We know from experience at the beginning of the year that speed and decisiveness of action is important in the fight against COVID,” he said.
Signs of social distancing are presented as a preventive measure against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mountain Ash, Great Britain, on September 18, 2020. REUTERS / Rebecca Naden
THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF DEATHS IN EUROPE
Britain has suffered the highest death toll in Europe from COVID-19, with more than 41,000 deaths in the government’s preferred measure.
The sharp rise in infections has yet to lead to a similar spike in new deaths, in part because cases have been concentrated among the very young, but hospital admissions are now starting to rise.
More than 10 million people in parts of northern and central England are already under some form of confinement restriction, such as a ban on inviting friends or family into their homes, or visiting pubs and restaurants after 10 p.m.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said on Friday that stricter lockdown measures were becoming “increasingly likely” for the British capital.
READ: England and Scotland exempt Singapore and Thailand travelers from COVID-19 self-isolation
Police broke up a protest in central London on Saturday of more than 1,000 people who were opposed to the existing closure measures, as the event did not comply with rules limiting public gatherings.
Ferguson served on the government’s top scientific advisory board until May, when he resigned after breaking lockdown rules.
He said future lockdown restrictions need not be as stringent as those introduced in March to be effective in curbing the further spread of the disease.
Britain’s ability to test for coronavirus infections has also suffered since schools in England reopened this month, with many people reporting that testing was not available or only possible in places hundreds of miles away. .
“We have a perfect storm right now, of people, as they have been told, returning to normal, schools reopening, an increase in cases,” Ferguson said.
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