Britain will endure MORE lockdowns in future unless government changes its ‘dangerous’ stance

Boris Johnson’s ‘dangerous’ coronavirus strategy will lead to more outbreaks and lockdowns, an ‘alternative SAGE’ panel of experts warned today. 

The independent scientists say the PM’s aim of flattening infections and ensuring the NHS is not overwhelmed until a vaccine is ready is ‘foolish’. 

This is because GPs and councils have no idea how many people in their community have the virus due to the Government’s ‘top down’ centralised approach, they say.

They are calling for local public health officials to be given the powers and resources to trace, test and isolate patients and prevent more waves of the virus.

The Independent Sage group, led by former chief scientific adviser Sir David King, also slammed the new ‘stay alert’ message, saying it is ambiguous and confusing.

Speaking at a virtual conference this afternoon, Sir David said: ‘Since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic, the government has told us they are ‘following the science’.

‘However, in the weeks and months that have followed, it has become increasingly apparent that this is simply not the case.

‘We detect ambivalence in the government’s strategic response, with some advisers promoting the idea of simply ‘flattening the curve’ or ensuring the NHS is not overwhelmed. 

‘We find this attitude counter-productive and potentially dangerous. Without suppression, we shall inevitably see a more rapid return of local epidemics and face the prospect of further partial or national lockdowns,’

‘It would be foolish to bank on a vaccine soon – the Government must prepare to invest now in decentralised local healthcare systems.’

The independent group have drafted a scathing report containing 19 detailed recommendations for the Government moving forward.

It will be sent to the prime minister, the current scientific adviser, and the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The report urges the Government to give local healthcare systems the power to run test, trace and isolate policies amid ciricism of Public Health England’s ‘control-freak’ centralised approach.

Professor Allyson Pollock, former director of the Institute of Health and Society at Newcastle University, told the conference today: ‘It’s a puzzle as to why contact tracing stopped on March 12. 

‘We were given two reasons – that it wasn’t effective and there weren’t sufficient resources.  

‘Contact tracing is the bread and butter of public health and it needs to be done locally by local communities.

‘It’s a great disappointment the Government hasn’t rebuilt [a team of tracers]. It’s not difficut to do contact tracing, but well need tens of thousands of workers.’ 

Public Health England (PHE) had fewer than 300 staff to do contact tracing operating out of just nine regional hubs covering 151 top-tier local authorities. 

By 12 March, when all community testing and contact tracing was stopped, PHE had only contacted 3,500 people of whom around 125 were confirmed positive on testing. 

Decisions on the timing of the loosening of social distancing rules are being informed by advice provided by the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).

But SAGE is increasingly under fire not only over its approach to transparency but also over the advice it is providing.

Sir David, set up his own ‘independent’ panel of experts to make their recommendations public and transparent.

The panel have called for the Government to address why poor people are expected to risk their lives ‘to get the economy going whilst wealthier people stay in the safety of their homes’.

It says the government should continue the furlough scheme in its current form for workers who cannot be guaranteed safe working conditions and transport.

The report also notes the risk of basing decisions on whether to lift lockdown on an ‘R number’ (the average number of people an infected person infects) based on data which it says has a four week time lag.