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England’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty warned that the rate of COVID-19 infections in the UK is “going in the wrong direction.”
On Monday, Professor Whitty and Chief Scientific Advisor Sir Patrick Vallance will host a televised briefing on the latest coronavirus data.
According to Downing Street, they will explain how coronavirus it is currently spreading and posing “potential scenarios” for the coming months.
They will not be joined by Prime Minister Boris Johnson or any member of the Cabinet and will not take questions from journalists.
In a statement before the briefing, Professor Whitty said the country was at “a critical point in the pandemic.”
“We are analyzing the data to see how to manage the spread of the virus before a very challenging winter period,” he added.
Comes like the secretary of health warned that the country was at a “tipping point” where “more restrictive measures” could be introduced to curb the spread of COVID-19.
During an interview at Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Matt hancock He said that “people have relaxed more during the summer” but “now is the time that everyone should go back” to follow the rules.
He said he was “concerned” that too many people are violating the self-isolation guide, which led the government to make it illegal in England.
When asked if he would report on his neighbors for violating any of the COVID-19 emergency laws, Hancock said, “Yes, and everyone should … Everyone has a role to play in this.”
Labor leader sir Keir starmer He said the ministers had “lost control of the testing system.”
He told Sophy Ridge: “If I were the prime minister, I would apologize for the fact that the trials are everywhere and instead of using summer to prepare for fall, which is what we said should happen, we are in this position, just when we need testing to be at its best, it is on the brink of collapse. “
One option ministers are considering is a brief two-week shutdown that would see additional rules on domestic interactions and restrictions in the hospitality and entertainment sectors, but would not involve school closings.
Described as a “circuit breaker”, the aim would be to impose stricter restrictions across England to slow down the chain of transmission before it accelerates further.
Another crash has been described as a ‘circuit break’
But Professor Carl Heneghan, from the University of Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine, questioned whether the time was right for new restrictions.
“As we look at the data, COVID is operating on a seasonal basis,” he told Sophy Ridge. “So what we have to do now is slow down. This is a long winter,” he added.
Professor Heneghan continued: “We need it in the middle of winter when we could get in trouble … it would be more explainable to people why we are doing it then than now, there is no evidence at this time of what is called a ‘second wave’ .
“We cannot afford to take tough action now because the impact on the economy here will be significant.
“If we go now, it’s too early.”
The government also faces resistance from some high-level Conservative MPs who threaten to rebel against further restrictions if they are not subject to greater parliamentary scrutiny.
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Meanwhile, there have been a further 3,899 laboratory confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK in the last 24 hour period. In total, 394,257 cases have been confirmed.
The government also said that another 18 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19. This brings the UK total to 41,777.
