Scientists sign letter in call to scrap masks and distancing

A LETTER to the UK Government calling for face coverings and social distancing to be scrapped in June has been signed by 22 leading scientists.

They are calling for the measures to end on June 22, the same date that Boris Johnson has proposed could see the end of legal limits on social contact in England.

No similar date has been set for Wales and the Welsh Government, as well as Chief Medical Officer Dr

Frank Atherton, has consistently said Wales will take a cautious approach.

Dr Roland Salmon, the former director of the communicable disease centre in Wales, is one of those scientists who has signed the letter.

He told BBC Radio Wales: “I am not venting my frustration but I do think some dialogue is well overdue.

I have always felt that there has been little credible evidence benefit for many of the measures that we take.”

Dr Salmon claimed the restrictions on travel and business “haven’t delivered anything” and Wales would have seen higher cases over the winter regardless of any restrictions.

“I am not particularly focused on people if they wish to keep wearing face coverings or indeed keeping people out of their own personal space, but I think the more general restrictions on travel and business really haven’t delivered anything,” he said.

“We have had the epidemic over the winter that we were always going to have. It might have been a little bit worse than we might otherwise have had because of course by flattening the curve we have ensured that the virus was around for a bit longer, and given that a high proportion of fatal infections are contracted in our hospitals we may have presented the opportunity for vulnerable people to catch it more frequently.”

Dr Salmon said the letter is not just about easing the restrictions from June 22, but encouraging the government to focus protection in the future on vulnerable people, rather than the masses.

When asked about the threat posed by variants, he said we need to deal with the “here and now”, adding that the vaccine has shown it prevents severe disease and death.