FURTHER localised outbreaks of coronavirus and multiple lockdowns are inevitable under Boris Johnson’s plans to ease social distancing restrictions and send people back to work in England without a strategy to suppress Covid 19, an independent group of scientists has warned.
The experts, convened by Sir David King, a former chief scientific adviser, urged the UK Government to reconsider the “dangerous” strategy of managing the spread of the virus and adopt widespread decentralised testing, tracing and isolation to tackle the epidemic across the four nations.
They added to growing criticisms about the “Stay Alert” message, describing the updated public health advice unveiled on Sunday as an “empty slogan”.
King launched the independent alternative to the UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) amid concerns over the independence of the advice coming from the body set up by the UK Government – after it emerged the Prime Minister’s top aide Dominic Cummings had attended meetings.
In a report published yesterday, the group warned that simply ensuring the NHS was not overwhelmed was counterproductive and potentially dangerous.
Without strong measures to suppress the spread of the infection “we shall inevitably see a more rapid return of local epidemics resulting in more deaths and potential further partial or national lockdowns”, they said. Speaking at an online press briefing to launch the report, King said the group considered it “foolish” to bank on a vaccine being available any time soon and said the UK Government must prepare for recurrent local outbreaks “for at least a year”.
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The report, which includes 19 key recommendations, will be sent to Downing Street; Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser who co-chairs Sage; the First Ministers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; and Jeremy Hunt, the chair of the Commons’s Health Select Committee.
The experts called on ministers to reverse the March 12 decision to abandon efforts to test, trace and isolate cases of Covid-19 and replace the existing centralised testing approach.
In its place, the group proposes a decentralised strategy that puts GPs and local health teams at the heart of outbreak control. The report says the “over-dependence on outsourcing” is unsustainable.
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