NHS leader calls for immediate return of face masks and WFH or ‘risk stumbling into winter virus crisis’
BRITS need to start wearing masks and work from home now to avoid "stumbling into a winter Covid crisis", a health chief has warned.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS, urged the Government to bring back restrictions and order companies to make employees work from home.
His plea comes as Covid deaths in the UK rose to their highest daily level since early March, while cases are at their highest for almost three months.
Downing Street said it was keeping a “very close eye” on rising case rates, but added the Prime Minister has “absolutely no plan to introduce Plan B”, which could also involve introducing vaccine passports.
Mr Taylor said the NHS is preparing for what could be “the most challenging winter on record” and urged the public to “show extra support for the NHS” by “behaving in ways that will keep themselves and others safe”.
He added: “It is time for the Government to enact Plan B of its strategy without delay because without pre-emptive action, we risk stumbling into a winter crisis.
“Also, health leaders need to understand what a ‘Plan C’ would entail if these measures are insufficient.
“The Government should not wait for Covid infections to rocket and for NHS pressures to be sky high before the panic alarm is sounded.”
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Mr Taylor said if the Government “fails to get a grip” on rising coronavirus cases, the nation’s recovery from the pandemic could be “put at risk”.
Prof Lawrence Young, Professor of Molecular Oncology, University of Warwick, said: "We are at a tipping point with increased levels of infection against a backdrop of waning vaccine-induced immunity and the easing of all restrictions.
"We must do everything to encourage those eligible to get their booster jabs and to vaccinate healthy 12 to 15 year olds.
"But we can’t rely on vaccination alone to protect us all over the winter and to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed.
"With the rising number of hospitalisations, Plan B measures (home orders, vaccine passports, social distancing and legally-enforced mask-wearing indoors) are looking increasingly likely.”
It comes as a new subvariant of the Delta strain is on the rise in the UK - that could be up to 15 per cent more infectious.
The spike in cases of AY.4.2 has been picked up in Britain, with a slice of the country's growing infections due to the subvariant.
Professor Francois Balloux, director of the University College London Genetics Institute, said: "It is potentially, marginally more infectious strain."
Experts have said "wait and see" and "don't panic", but as the booster jab rollout stutters, there are fears of a quicker spread as we come into winter.
On Tuesday, the Government said a further 223 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid – bringing the UK total to 138,852.
While the numbers are often higher on Tuesdays because of a lag in reporting deaths and cases over the weekend, this is the highest figure for daily reported deaths since March 9.
Meanwhile, the seven-day average for cases is standing at 44,145 cases per day – the highest level for almost three months.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman has previously said Plan-B curbs on freedom would only be used if there was a “significant risk of the NHS being overwhelmed”.
The spokesman said: “There are a number of different factors that would play into that decision.
“Largely it would be required when there was a significant risk of the NHS being overwhelmed.
“We are not at that point. Because of the vaccination programme, the levels we are seeing in both patients admitted to hospital and deaths are far lower than we saw in previous peaks.”
WINTER IS COMING
At the moment, the UK has one of the highest weekly rates of new cases in the entire world.
And only 67 per cent have had two vaccinations, as the Government urges people eligible to get their third booster shot.
Today Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng shut down calls for bringing in Plan B, saying to BBC Breakfast opening up had been "very hard won".
However, he added: "Now, that's something which could change but, at the moment, we think that the course that we're plotting is the right one."
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On Tuesday, Professor Neil Ferguson a leading member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said he thinks “Plan-B” could be implemented in England this winter, but it is unlikely “we’ll ever get close” to the lockdown the country experienced in January.
He added that the UK is no longer in the top rank of European countries in terms of overall vaccination coverage, particularly in vaccinating teenagers.
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