An infectious disease expert has suggested that the only way to control the highly infectious new strain of Covid-19 is with a new national lockdown.
Infectious disease expert Andrew Hayward, a member of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), called on ministers to “act decisively” and warned that the UK was entering “a really critical phase of this pandemic” .
It comes amid growing calls for a third national shutdown in the new year in a bid to contain the mutant variant of the coronavirus that is emerging across the UK.
The measures are likely to take effect in early January.
Government scientific advisers have warned that inaction could cost “tens of thousands of lives” and risk “economic, human and social disaster” as the highly contagious strain of the virus spreads across the country.
When asked if a new national shutdown is advisable, Professor Hayward of University College London (UCL) said in a briefing on Monday: “Personally, I think it is clearer to give a coherent national message because, although the Risk levels are different in different parts of the country, they are still there and they are still substantial.
“Basically what we are really doing is trying to reduce transmission until we can protect as many vulnerable people as possible and that would allow us to gain many more weeks where we could vaccinate people.”
UCL fellow professor Robert West, who is part of Sage’s behavioral science advisory group, said he believed the current tiering system was “unlikely” to contain the spread of the disease.
He said Britain needed to “reset our strategy,” adding: “This will mean stricter but more rational social distancing rules across the country, and finally doing what we should have done from the start: building the test type, traveling , isolate and support programs they have in Far Eastern countries.
“It sounds expensive, but the alternative could well be a catastrophic collapse in confidence in the country’s ability to control the virus and the economic, human and social disaster that would follow.”
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The imminent extension of Tier 4 measures in England follows a grim assessment by England’s top science adviser.
Sir Patrick Vallance said that while the final decision was in the hands of the ministers, the cases had spread “everywhere” and the country would have to prepare for further restrictions.
“The evidence for this virus is that it spreads easily,” he said. “It is more transmissible, it is absolutely necessary to make sure we have the right level of restrictions.
“I think the number of the variant is likely to increase across the country and I think therefore the measures are likely to have to be increased in some places, in time, not reduced.”
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More than 40 countries have banned arrivals from the UK in a bid to slow the spread of the new Covid variant.
France closed its border with the United Kingdom for 48 hours starting Sunday, causing delays for freight trucks crossing the English Channel.
Brexit trucks parked on the M20: in pictures
The closure of the routes through the canal alarmed businesses, including those dependent on the smooth passage of agricultural products to the UK, as well as tourists looking to go to the mainland, all with the added complication of the end of the period Brexit transition. December 31st.
The Northern Ireland Executive held an emergency meeting late at night amid a dispute over whether to introduce a travel ban to Great Britain, proposed by Sinn Fein but rejected by the executive.
Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s has warned that the disruption in Kent could affect supplies of lettuce, some salad greens, cauliflower, broccoli and citrus, all of which are imported from mainland Europe in the winter.
