“There will definitely be another surge at some point,” says England’s chief medical officer on the first anniversary of lockdown.
The COVID crisis will cause a “long rain shadow” and there will “definitely” be another surge in infections, according to England’s chief medical officer.
Professor Chris Whitty, speaking on the anniversary of the UK’s first lockdown, warned of “bumps and twists on the road” as the country attempts to recover from the pandemic.
And he also highlighted the “very big job of work” in preventing “lifelong” problems related to the effect of lockdowns, such as increased deprivation and non-COVID health issues.
Addressing the Public Health Conference 2021, organised by the Local Government Association (LGA) and the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH), Prof Whitty told delegates: “The path from here on in does look better than the last year.”
But, predicting a further spike in infections at some point and possible vaccine supply problems, he added: “There are going to be lots of bumps and twists on the road from here on in.
“There will definitely be another surge at some point whether it’s before winter or next winter, we don’t know.
“Variants are going to cause problems, there will be stockouts of vaccines and no doubt there will be multiple problems at a national level but also at a local level – school outbreaks, prison outbreaks, all those things that people are dealing with on a day-to-day basis.”
A year on from when Prime Minister Boris Johnson first told the public to “stay at home”, Prof Whitty said the government knew “right from the beginning the lockdown was going to have really severe effects on many people’s health”.
He noted how people may have been exercising less or drinking more over the past 12 months, while there had also been an increase in levels of domestic abuse and loneliness.
“For some people lockdown has either made no difference or in some cases – if you actually look at the academic literature and surveys – has even improved life, interestingly,” he said.
-Skynews
