Experts worried over England unlocking

▶ Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said Covid-19 restrictions will end on July 19

Scientists have said that England’s plans to fully reopen next week could cause further mutations of the coronavirus.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced yesterday that the government’s route out of lockdown would proceed as planned on July 19.

It will be the end of all coronavirus regulations, meaning the number of people gathering will no longer be limited. Mandatory social distancing and mask-wearing will come to an end.

“Cases will rise as we unlock, so as we confirm our plans today, our message will be clear,” Mr Johnson said. “Caution is absolutely vital, and we must all take responsibility so we don’t undo our progress.”

Although Mr Johnson will push ahead with his plans, he emphasised the need for “personal responsibility”.

The public will still be expected to wear face masks and are being urged to work from home even if work-from-home guidance is due to formally end.

But scientists are concerned that the British government is pressing ahead much too quickly.

The UK has recorded a sharp rise in cases in recent weeks, with 31,772 positive tests reported on Sunday.

Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said the rise in cases was leading to increased hospital admissions and deaths.

“It’s beginning to feed into a quite concerning doubling of the rate of hospital admissions,” he told the BBC.

“If we look at hospital admissions, they are up almost 60 per cent. If we look at deaths, although relatively small, they are up 66 per cent on the week before.

“We know there’s a time lag built into the epidemiology and built into all the observations we have. We’re all very concerned about where this is going to go over the next month or so.”

UK Heath Secretary Sajid Javid previously said infections could reach 100,000 a day later in the summer, but Mr Johnson is hopeful the country’s vaccination drive will provide enough protection even if the number of Covid cases rises substantially.

About 87 per cent of adults in the UK have received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. Sixty-six per cent are fully vaccinated.

A World Health Organisation epidemiologist said she was devastated to watch unmasked crowds singing and shouting at the Euro 2020 football final in London on Sunday, expressing concerns that it would spur Covid-19 transmission, including of the Delta variant.

In unusually forthright comments from the UN health agency, its Covid-19 technical lead, Maria Van Kerkhove, called the sight of the more than 60,000 spectators at the match between Italy and England “devastating”.

“Am I supposed to be enjoying watching transmission happening in front of my eyes?” she tweeted in the late stages of the match.

Dr Mike Tildesley, an expert in infectious disease modelling who advises the UK government, said more mutations of the virus were likely.

“We need to be careful. We can’t just say once we’ve broken the link between cases and hospital admissions that we are pretty much safe and no one gets really sick so it’s fine to have a big wave of cases,” he told Times Radio.

“Of course the more cases you have, particularly with high levels of vaccine protection, that does then kind of challenge the virus a little bit more and gives more potential for it to mutate into a form where the vaccines are less effective.”

He criticised the government for “mixed messaging” on the wearing of masks.

Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said at the weekend people would still be “expected” to wear face coverings in enclosed indoor spaces, but other ministers said they plan to stop wearing masks as soon as legally possible.

“I think it’s actually quite confusing for people to know what the right thing to do is,” Dr Tildesley said.