The UK has “no clear strategy” to alleviate pressure on hospitals battling coronavirus beyond “reactive lockdowns”, a public health expert has said.
The country has seen some form of restrictions placed on the population for almost a year, said Professor Devi Sridhar, adding that it is “unrealistic” to expect people to adhere to rules for months on end.
The chairwoman of public health at Edinburgh University told Times Radio: “I think the larger issue here is the UK has no clear strategy beyond reactive lockdowns whenever hospitals are under pressure.
READ MORE: Lockdown protest Scottish Parliament: Police urge public not to attend
“People have been in lockdown for almost a year and I think it is unrealistic for people to continue to distance and avoid mixing for months and months when it’s part of what makes us human.”
She added: “I see this slightly differently. We need a plan to stop these lockdowns, and to learn from other countries – those in east Asia and the Pacific – which are largely back to normal.”
Professor Devi Sridhar added that the UK could be forced back into lockdown if there is not a greater plan to combat Covid-19.
She warned the four nations will see cases rise again in the summer months if test and trace systems, mass testing and support packages for people self-isolating are not put in place.
On the matter, she said: “We are not at the mercy of this virus where whatever it does we have to react.
“We can dictate how this evolves but we need a bit more agency in being more proactive and ahead of it instead of always behind it.”
It comes as Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the NHS needed people to “stay at home” adding “the pressure on the NHS is very, very bad”.
He told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme: “It is a very, very serious situation in the NHS, especially in some parts of the country.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Why you might not be seeing your GP for your Covid jag
“But actually we’ve got challenges throughout the whole of the UK and the NHS needs you now more than it’s needed anyone at any point and what it needs people to do is to stay at home.”
He added: “The single biggest thing that anybody can do is to follow the stay at home guidance.
“There are limited exemptions. Only if you can’t work from home and if you need to go out and get shopping or take some exercise.
“But these are highly-limited for a good reason and that’s because the pressure on the NHS is very, very bad and we need to bring the case rate right down.
“So it’s on all of us really, it always has been a big team effort.”
READ MORE: Coronavirus: The areas in Scotland with most Covid cases
The warning comes as the total number of lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK yesterday exceeded three million since the outbreak began, according to the Government’s dashboard.
The Government also reported a further 1,035 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Saturday.
It brings the UK total to 80,868.
Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 95,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel