HOUSEHOLD VISITS IN DANGER

PM may follow Sturgeon (again) and stop English households from mixing indoors

A BAN on household visits could be extended across large swathes of England, Downing Street warned yesterday.

Boris Johnson rejected pressure from Government scientists this week to forbid people from visiting each other’s homes.

But the move was introduced in Scotland by Nicola Sturgeon – and No 10 has refused to rule out following suit if coronavirus cases continue to surge.

It would be the latest example of England playing catch-up with decisions made first by Scotland, among the most glaring examples being abandoning the use of an algorithm to grade A-level results and making face masks in shops compulsory.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Mr Johnson had decided the new ‘rule of six’ would ‘provide clarity for people as to how they can help to break the chain of transmission between households’.

But he pointed out that household visits were already banned in many hotspots in northern England, adding: ‘It’s a policy we may well decide we need to apply in other localised parts of England.’

A Government adviser predicted yesterday that a ban on households mixing would be introduced across England ‘very soon’.

Professor Peter Openshaw, a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, said ministers could not afford to delay if they want to keep on top of the virus.

He told the BBC: ‘I think that may well be coming very soon. If we wait two or three weeks, it will be too late. It ought to be instituted sooner rather than later.’

Asked if the Prime Minister had gone far enough with the measures he announced on Tuesday, the professor said: ‘I think, looking from the lens of somebody who is concerned about health, probably not.’

Professor John Edmunds, of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said the latest measures for England had not gone ‘anywhere near far enough’.

‘I suspect we will see very stringent measures coming in place throughout the UK at some point, but it will be too late again,’ he added.

But Professor Carl Heneghan, director of Oxford University’s Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, urged ministers not to panic. He told Radio 4’s Today programme it was time for the Government to ‘slow down’.

Professor Heneghan, who discussed his ideas with the Prime Minister at the weekend, said: ‘There will be an inevitable rise in cases as we go into winter. The key is not to panic now.

‘We have got to let some of these measures work. They will take a few weeks to come through. If at every point there is an uptick in cases we panic and bring in more measures, we will talk ourselves back into a lockdown, which for the whole of society would be very disruptive.’

No 10 did not deny reports yesterday that the Government’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty had advised Mr Johnson to impose a ban on household visits. Asked why he had rejected the idea, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘There are also scientists on the other side of the argument saying that we have gone too far.

‘There will always be a range of scientific opinion. The Prime Minister has canvassed the full range of scientific opinion in the formulation of this package and we believe that it has a significant role to play in driving down the rate of infection.’

Yesterday The Spectator magazine reported that the controversial epidemiologist who was behind Sweden’s decision not to go into lockdown recently offered advice to No 10.

Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s chief epidemiologist, took part in discussions with the Prime Minister and Chancellor Rishi Sunak ahead of Tuesday’s announcement.

Others present included Professor Heneghan and another Oxford University scientist who has urged the Government to avoid overly tough restrictions, Professor Sunetra Gupta.

In his address to the nation on Tuesday night Mr Johnson warned that further restrictions would follow if the new rules were flouted.

Yesterday Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was clear that a full second lockdown could follow.

He said: ‘Let’s hope we can get through the winter months if we take these measures and if everyone plays by the rules, and we go into Christmas not needing to go into that national lockdown, with all the impact on society and families but also the damage it would do to businesses.’

‘The key is not to panic now’