Sage expert warns of ‘draconian’ lockdown

FOUR-FIFTHS of the population are still susceptible to coronavirus, a Sage professor has said, meaning a “draconian” lockdown could be reimposed.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Sir Mark Walport, a member of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said: “We know that less than one in five people in the country have been infected so 80 per cent of the population are still susceptible to this virus.”

Asked whether another nationwide lockdown could be reintroduced, Prof Walport said that while local lockdowns were preferable, it would be impossible to completely rule them out.

“Now we can be much more targeted in the approach,” he said. “But is there a situation where things could get out of control? Well, obviously that is possible”.

Since June, Boris Johnson has ordered swathes of England back into partial lockdown in a bid to stop a second wave of coronavirus.

Yesterday, residents in Oldham and parts of Blackburn and Pendle were told not to socialise with other households, after the region experienced a surge in cases.

In an interview on Cllr Mohammed Iqbal, the Labour leader for Pendle borough council, said he had been in intense discussions with the Government about the new rules.

He said: “The restrictions are something that as a council we have argued against all week to the Government but the Government has refused to listen to us and have imposed this simply to punish people who have been testing flat out.”