THE POSITIVE PROFESSOR

CMO of Rutherford Cancer Centres and Former Director of WHO Cancer Programme

SOCIAL media’s voice of calm Karol Sikora has been signed up by the Daily Express. Readers can now enjoy his soothing advice in these troubled times that has won him hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter. If you need reassuring everything’s going to be all right read Professor Positivity. BE pragmatic and be flexible – this is good advice in all walks of life, not just in crisis response. Stubbornness gets us absolutely nowhere in anything, especially when we’re responding to a fast- changing situation.

It’s been clear for months now that the self- isolation system is failing. Regular readers will know it’s something I’ve been banging on about for some time.

Lockdowns, tiers, restrictions – it’s all pointless if people with symptoms aren’t keeping themselves away from others.

So far we’ve been stuck with the 14 days which has not been working. One study showed that only 18 per cent of people with symptoms were actually following the rules.

Every country is grappling with the same problem. Some have taken more drastic measures than others, but that is

‘ It is far better having more isolate for fewer days than barely any’

a different conversation. Finally, the Government seems to have accepted that there is an issue. The time has been reduced to 10 days which I think is a massive step in the right direction. In my opinion, it is far better having more people isolate for fewer days than barely any for a fortnight.

The scientists advising the Government seem confident that this can work and I fully endorse their approach.

It may not be perfect and there will be a small percentage of people who are infectious after the 10 days, but on balance it is definitely the right move if it encourages more people to isolate.

Hopefully all this debate will soon be history as the vaccine is rolled out, but for now we have to be as pragmatic and flexible as we can to keep rates low.