HOLD FIRE
National ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown NOT needed and ‘unfair’ to drag whole country into strict Tier 3, says Van-Tam
A NATIONAL 'circuit-breaker' lockdown isn't needed - and it'd be unfair to drag the whole country into a tier three lockdown, one of the UK's top medics said yesterday.
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam publicly announced his opposition to “hard measures” that threaten to trash jobs in parts of the country where Covid numbers are low.
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The respected medic’s criticism of a national lockdown is a blow to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer who has repeatedly called for one.
Meanwhile, medical colleagues proposed an alternative to the tiered lockdowns, saying that shielding just five per cent of Brits could see a massive reduction in the number of coronavirus deaths.
It comes after Boris Johnson repeatedly batted off pressure from across the political spectrum for another national shutdown - and on the day Manchester was forced into tier three measures.
Prof Van-Tam’s comments came after circuit breakers were imposed in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Senior members of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies have also called for them in England, saying current measures do not go far enough.
But deputy chief medical officer for England Prof Van-Tam is the most senior clinician to speak out against them.
Speaking from Downing Street yesterday, Prof Van-Tam said a new national lockdown was wrong.
He said: “Pretty much everywhere in England is now heating up to some extent.
“We are trying to walk a very fine line in between getting the virus under control in areas where it is out of control while incurring the minimum amount of economic damage in doing so.
“It is clear that in the areas where it is out of control, hard measures are needed.
“But do I think right now it is appropriate to insist on those similar hard measures in, for example, the South West of England or Kent, where levels of the disease are very, very much lower than in the north of England?
“To impose a national firebreak, no I don’t think that’s right and I don’t think that’s right with the epidemiological picture we are seeing.”
However, he acknowledged that the virus is surging across the country.
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He revealed a series of heat maps, which show that cases of the virus are surging in almost every age group - and called the figures "pretty stark".
Worst affected is the north-east and north-west, as well as the East Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber.
"The North is running ahead of the rest of the country at the moment," he said.
Stephen Powis of Public Health England said: "There is variation around the country and indeed that is reflected in the number of patients seen in hospitals."
And he highlighted how serious the situation in the North has become.
"There are more patients in hospitals in Greater Manchester alone at the moment than there are in hospitals in the entire south east and south west of England," he said.
Prof Van-Tam’s comments against circuit breakers came as PM Boris Johnson stood firm against mayor Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester and put the area into a Tier Three lockdown from Friday.
Speaking at yesterday’s coronavirus briefing, Mr Johnson said not to act now would put the lives of Manchester’s residents at risk.
During the same press conference, Mr Johnson faced a public question about a circuit-breaker.
He said that while nothing has yet been ruled out, "the distribution of the virus is very uneven compared with March and April", and reaffirmed his commitment to local measures.
"The right response is to go for this local and regional approach," he said.
But yesterday a major study suggested an alternative to Tier Two and Tier Three lockdowns could come by shielding just five per cent of Brits — potentially cutting deaths by up to three quarters.
Oxford University scientists have developed a new Covid risk tool using data on more than eight million patients.
It aims to help doctors identify those with the highest chance of being admitted to hospital and dying from the bug.
Key factors include age, ethnicity, obesity, poverty and underlying health conditions.
Researchers found those in the top five per cent for predicted death risk accounted for 76 per cent of fatalities during the first wave.
And those in the highest 20 per cent made up 94 per cent of Covid deaths, according to the paper published by the BMJ.
The number of UK coronavirus deaths yesterday jumped by 241 in the deadliest day since June 5.
The grim spike is almost double the 143 Covid fatalities recorded on the same day a week ago.
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Earlier this week it was revealed that Wales will be thrown into a two-week "circuit breaker" lockdown - which will be called a "fire break" with all pubs and shops to be forced to shut from 6pm on Friday.
The lockdown will fall over the half-term holiday and extend for a week beyond that.
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Primary schools will reopen as normal after the break and kids in secondary school in Year 7 and 8 will be able to go to school.
All other students will have to go back to home learning.
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Boris Johnson says he regrets failure to do a deal with Andy Burnham but he had to act and put Greater Manchester into Tier 3
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