A COuNTRy ‘IN DANGER’
TOP SCIENTIST WARNS OF CRITICAL PERIOD IN VIRUS FIGHT
BRITAIN is at a ‘very dangerous time’ in the coronavirus pandemic, said one of the country’s top medical scientists.
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer said at the daily government press briefing that the response to the lockdown was encouraging.
But he added: “We do not expect these changes to turn the curb on this awful disease immediately.
“This remains a dangerous time, it is vitally important that people stay at home.”
Professor Van-Tam, pictured
below, said that a lot of work on clinical trials has been going on ‘for weeks behind the scenes.’
He said: “This is a new disease where at the moment we do not have any proven treatments.
“The UK is absolutely determined, however, to find effective treatments for this virus disease.
“Weeks ago, we began to look at clinical trials.
“We may not have publicised it at that point but a lot of work has been going on for weeks behind the scenes.”
Professor Van-Tam said he expects it will be a few months before results are achieved through clinical trials.
He said: “The faster we go in getting bigger numbers in the trials, the clearer and more emphatic and more granular signals we will get about what works and who it works for.”
Prof Van-Tam – on when the peak of the epidemic is expected to be – said: “We don’t know the answer to that yet.”
Addressing whether the NHS will have enough ventilators during the peak, given some fear they will not receive the critical care they need,
Prof Van-Tam expressed confidence in equipment supplies. He said: “I can tell you I don’t think we’re anywhere close to that kind of scenario at the moment.”
The government does not recommend that healthy people wear face masks, it has confirmed.
Prof Van-Tam said the practice seemed ‘wired into’ some South East Asian cultures but there was no evidence it helped stop the spread of Covid-19.
He said: “What matters is social distancing.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the coronavirus ‘continues its grim march’ before he reiterated the latest data of tests and deaths.
Mr Hancock gave an ‘instruction’ for people to continue to stay at home this weekend, even if the weather proves good.
He said: “We cannot relax our discipline now.
“If we do, people will die.” After confirming the plans for further Nightingale hospitals, Mr Hancock added: “Since the start of this crisis, we’ve boosted the number of critical care beds to care for coronavirus by over 2,500. “That’s before the addition we’ll get from the Nightingale hospitals.”
Chief nursing officer Ruth May paid tribute at the briefing to the medics who have died after contracting coronavirus, adding: “I worry there is going to be more.”