Fears that a third national lockdown could be on the horizon have risen in the wake of the Christmas easing. Coronavirus restrictions will be temporarily eased for the holiday period to allow people to see their families. However, Dr Bharat Pankhania, a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School, warned ITV’s Good Morning Britain that there was a danger of people not following the tier rules.
He said: “It’s inevitable because this is a person-to-person spread of infection.
“If we are gathering over the Christmas period, as the green light has been given for this to happen, people will start to gather before and after as well.
“Then once you have a surge in the number of cases late January to early February, we will not by that time, have fully deployed the vaccines, therefore case numbers are expected to rise.
“Therefore it’s even more important that while we head towards Christmas, that we maintain as many restrictions as we possibly can.”
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Boris Johnson has already issued warnings over another potential national lockdowon, as he pointed to “dangers” that were still present for the country.
The Prime Minister had said: “Together we have prevented our NHS from being overwhelmed, but those dangers have not gone away.
“If we ease off now, we risk losing control of this virus all over again, casting aside our hard-won gains and forcing us back into a new year national lockdown.
“The tough measures in our winter plan are the best way to avoid this outcome.”
SAGE has warned that the spread of COVID-19 “could easily double” over the festive period with “substantial mixing” of people.
A report from the group said: “Any relaxation over [the] festive period will result in increased transmission and increased prevalence, potentially by a large amount.
“A parallel can be drawn, albeit on a different scale, between the return of students in autumn and people from different households mixing intensively over Christmas.”
Sir Patrick Vallance, the Chief Scientific Officer for England, has advised that Britons should “avoid behaviours that would spread the disease”.
He recommended that households with mixing are kept “well ventilated” with precautions taken and as much socially distancing as possible.