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The dispute over Britain’s coronavirus blockade escalated last night after a government scientific adviser said the country “cannot hide forever” from the disease.
Rupert Shute, a deputy scientific adviser to the Home Office, predicted that 80 percent of people would get the disease anyway.
Speaking to passport officials in an attempt to urge them to return to work, Shute said that while staying home it was important, “We also have to keep running our lives.”
His comments will fuel the dispute over whether Britain has pursued a “collective immunity” strategy and how long the blockade should last.
The World Trade Organization has warned of the potential for a deep economic recession caused by the crackdown, and some MPs are already calling for the restrictions to be eased.
Britain in closure: a police officer asks a couple not to sit on a bench at The Royal Pump Room Gardens at Leamington Spa
But Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who replaces the incapacitated prime minister, effectively confirmed last night that the closure measures will be implemented next week, saying it was “too early” to lift them. But he said scientists and ministers hoped to have enough evidence by the end of next week to begin evaluating how long they will take to last.
Up to 2,000 workers at the Passport Office are required to return to work. The Home Office said it complied with Public Health England’s guidance and maintained social distancing at passport offices.
Shute made the comments during a conference call with the Passport Office staff. He said: ‘You are no longer at risk in the workplace as you would be at home or at the supermarket. It’s about minimizing it. We are working on the assessment that 80 percent of us, if we have not already done so, will contract the virus. We can’t hide from him forever. “
Mr. Shute’s comments appear to echo previous government reports that up to 80 percent of people will eventually contract coronavirus. But yesterday, the prime minister’s official spokesman seemed to dismiss Shute’s opinion when he said: “The government’s opinion is to stop the spread of the disease to save lives.”
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is replacing Prime Minister Boris Johnson while receiving treatment for the coronavirus, has said it is “too early” to begin lifting the blockade measures.
Police officers enforce the closure measures in Trafalgar Square in central London, asking people to leave the square and abide by the social distancing measures.
On Thursday, again, people joined the weekly applause to show thanks to NHS staff who continue to work in hospitals to treat people with the coronavirus.
The Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents passport workers, said members must work from home unless they do critical work.
Mark Serwotka, union secretary general, said: ‘The union is clear that members should work from home unless they do critical work. Processing routine passport applications is not critical work.
“What Rupert Shute has said to the staff, suggesting that going to work” as usual is not putting him in danger, rather than staying home “and that 80 percent of people will hire Covid-19, it is a return. to the discredited collective immunity strategy that the government rejects.
‘We believe the position should be that everyone should be home unless it is critical work. The Passport Office announcement goes against that and is driven by business with little regard for the safety of our members. The Passport Office must reverse its decision and we hope that common sense will prevail. “
Yesterday, Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer demanded that the government be more open and publish its full plan to abandon the virus blockade.
He said: “I am not asking for precise times, but for the strategy. This is incredibly difficult for people and we need to know that the plans are implemented and what they are.”
Yesterday, delegated governments in both Scotland and Wales made it clear that there was no chance of the embargo being relaxed next week.
But Raab said it was still “too early” to say anything about lifting the restrictions.
“Almost three weeks have passed and we are beginning to see the impact of the sacrifices we have all made,” he said.
‘But deaths continue to rise and we have not yet reached the peak of the virus. Therefore, it is still too early to lift the measures that we implement. We must stick to the plan and we must continue to be guided by science. “
Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said it is important to continue with the measures in place.
He said: ‘The steps everyone has taken, the difficult things we have all had to do, are making a difference, they are making a big difference.
“We know that social distancing is working and we know that people are doing what they are supposed to do and we have to keep doing it.”
But former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said he believed the blockade should end soon for the good of the economy.
“We have to catch up on this, but at some point we have to balance the need to achieve this with the need for people to return to work,” he said.
“When these needs intersect, we will have to start getting people back to work.”
Cancer specialist Professor Karol Sikora said he believed the closure could be completed in early May.
He tweeted: ‘The lock is working: we are flattening the curve. But we need to see an exit strategy. With more testing, no virus mutation, and compliance with the rules, I think this is a doable schedule. “
A spokesman for Number 10 said the departments were doing extensive work on an exit strategy, but declined to elaborate.
Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said it is important to continue with the measures in place.
