NOT SO FREE
Lockdown ease chaos as Boris ‘cancels Churchillian Freedom Day launch’ & experts warn lockdown back by September
BORIS Johnson has shelved plans for a “Churchillian” Freedom Day speech tomorrow to celebrate the lifting of restrictions amid surging Covid cases and self-isolation chaos.
The PM will not address the nation tomorrow on the day of unlocking - as experts warned that lockdown measures could return as soon as September.
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Downing Street was yesterday forced to cancel plans for a celebration of Britain’s newfound freedoms amid increasing alarm over the spike in cases.
Officials had wished to mark the event by having Mr Johnson speak at a historic venue associated with Churchill - though scientific advisers were spooked when the UK recorded over 50,000 infections yesterday.
A source told the Mail on Sunday: “The plan had been for Boris to effectively declare victory over the virus by summoning the spirit of Churchill, with appropriately stirring rhetoric.
“That no longer feels appropriate.”
'BE CAUTIOUS'
Cabinet ministers have abandoned their bullish attitude towards the lifting of restrictions, with many now publicly urging Brits to be “cautious” as the country unlocks.
Pressed on Freedom Day this morning, housing secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky News: “We do believe that we're able to move forward tomorrow with stage four of the roadmap that's really been for two principal reasons.
“The Prime Minister set two ambitious targets, earlier in the year, firstly that we wanted to ensure that two thirds of the adult population of the country had been double vaccinated by this point.
“And secondly, and just as importantly that every adult in the whole of the United Kingdom, had been offered at least one vaccination, and both of those tests have been met.
“So that does mean that we're able to move forward but we will be doing so very cautiously, because cases are rising, hospitalisations are rising, and so we're all going to have to exercise, personal responsibility and informed good judgement in the days ahead."
Today it was revealed that Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have been "pinged" by the NHS Covid-19 App after coming into contact with Sajid Javid.
The PM and the chancellor will not have to self-isolate as they are participating in a daily testing pilot.
LOCKDOWN WARNING
It comes after a string of former cabinet ministers and scientific experts hit out at Freedom Day plans yesterday.
Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned that restrictions will have to be reimposed if Covid hospitalisations exceed the daily peak of the first wave.
He said the situation was “very serious” and the Government would face “difficult decisions” in the months ahead as cases rise.
Mr Hunt, who is now chairman of the Commons Health and Social Care Committee, told BBC Radio 4: “The warning light on the NHS dashboard is not flashing amber, it is flashing red.
"Covid hospital patients are doubling every two weeks. That means we are heading for 10,000 Covid hospital patients by the end of August, which is about 20 times higher than this time last year. It is a very serious situation.
“I think coming into September we are almost certainly going to see infections reach a new daily peak going above the 68,000 daily level, which was the previous daily record in January.
"If they are still going up as the schools are coming back I think we are going to have to reconsider some very difficult decisions.
"How we behave over the next few weeks will have a material difference."
Mr Hunt’s warning comes as NHS leaders warned that an uptick in hospital admissions could hamper their ability to deal with the backlog in care - with some 5.3 million Brits now awaiting treatment.
One of England's largest hospitals on Friday cancelled all its planned operations for 48 hours due to a lack of beds in intensive care amid a concerning rise in Covid admissions.
University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) NHS Trust, which has more than 1,100 beds, has put dozens of procedures scheduled on hold - including lifesaving liver transplants.
Hospitalisations across the country have seen a slight uptick with 738 recorded yesterday - the highest figure since March 2.
And Britain yesterday recorded 54,674 cases - the highest daily infection tally since January 15.
But fatalities have remained low relative to infection rates with the vaccine acting as a buffer against hospitalisation and severe illness.
The last time the UK recorded 55,553 cases on January 15, there were 1,282 deaths reported and 3,677 hospitalisations. Yesterday, the tally was 41 and 738 respectively.
Over 35 million Brits are now double-jabbed against the disease and more than 46 million adults have received their first dose - offering further protection against the third wave.
FREEDOM DAY WARNING
On Monday, the Government will lift all legal Covid restrictions with social distancing measures scrapped, large-scale events back on and work-from-home guidance shelved.
But ministers have tempered their ‘Freedom Day’ promises as cases continue to surge, with Boris Johnson last week warning the pandemic was “not over”.
Brits will instead be encouraged to wear masks in crowded spaces and return to the office gradually - while hospitality venues could ask for vaccine passports upon entry.
Ministers hope that voluntary compliance will help drive transmission rates down even as legal restrictions end.
The warning light on the NHS dashboard is not flashing amber, it is flashing red
Jeremy Hunt
But a SAGE adviser warned yesterday that the UK's Covid wave will last through the summer and into the autumn with daily infections rising to 100,000 in weeks.
Prof Edmunds, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, warned the spread was unlikely to cease as measures are lifted on Monday.
He told BBC Radio 4: “My hunch is that we are looking at a high level of incidence for a protracted period right through the summer and probably through much of the autumn.
"We started easing restrictions before everybody was vaccinated.
“That is going to lead to infections in the unvaccinated people - primarily in this instance the younger individuals. It is inevitable that that was going to happen.”
But Professor Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at Edinburgh University, argued the assessment of England's unlocking on July 19 as a "dangerous, unethical experiment" was "very inaccurate".
He told Times Radio: "The concern at the moment is that the trajectory of hospitalisations and deaths in the UK is upwards, fairly slowly... and we want to see what that trend does.
'EXIT WAVE'
"It's widely accepted the number of cases would increase, we've known this would happen when we unlocked for many months now, we'd expect it.... so 'dangerous, unethical experiment' seems to be a very inaccurate description of what's going on."
Prof Woolhouse, who advises government in both England & Scotland, said he expected all countries to experience an "exit wave" of coronavirus when they came to unlock fully.
Elsewhere, the government announced a large-scale vaccination drive in the Autumn to combat surging flu cases as well as a predicted spike in Covid infections.
More than 35 million Brits will be offered a flu jab from September in a significant expansion of the programme.
Jabs will be available from September for children aged two and three on August 31, all primary school children, people aged 50 and over, pregnant women, unpaid carers, and frontline health and adult social care staff.
Experts have warned that the UK has low levels of immunity from flu as a result of lockdown and social distancing measures.
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Ministers have also come under fire for instigating a “pingdemic” as it was revealed yesterday that over half a million Brits had been told to self-isolate by the NHS Covid-19 App.
Furious employers have demanded that the Government tweak the app amid severe staff shortages - though a surge in cases means changes may not be made until next month.
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