More England coronavirus restrictions inevitable, says Chris Whitty
Boris Johnson has been warned by his chief medical adviser that England will soon be forced to ban visits between households to stop the country’s second coronavirus wave.
The Prime Minister announced a raft of stringent new measures yesterday, including a 10pm curfew for all hospitality venues, enforced table service at hospitality venues and requirements that all retail and hospitality workers wear face masks at all times.
Everyone who is not an essential worker and can work from home has been advised to do so, while indoor events – such as indoor sports – will be limited to six people.
Johnson said the new restrictions would have to be in place for six months unless a vaccine or new treatment for Covid-19 is discovered.
However, chief medical officer Chris Whitty does not think England’s new coronavirus restrictions will bring infection rates under control and believes further restrictions are inevitable, according to The Times.
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Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon banned house visits north of the border yesterday, while adding that experts “advise that we must take account of the fact that household interaction is a key driver of transmission”.
Whitty reportedly agreed with the Scottish chief medical officer Gregor Smith that househould visits should be banned when the two met with the Welsh and Northern Irish chief medical officers earlier this week.
The UK’s rate of infection is currently doubling every second day with increases seen in every age group, according to chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance.
He said a continuing of this rate would lead to 50,000 cases a day by next month and 200 deaths a day by November.
Whitty said on Monday that it was understandable that the country had to consider economic considerations when making decisions about further lockdowns.
Johnson said yesterday that a new national lockdown would “threaten jobs and livelihoods”, but that he “would deploy greater firepower, with significantly greater restrictions” if the R rate of infection kept rising.