A sign displaying a message asking for people to stay home is seen next to the A55 as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, Holywell, Wales, Britain, April 4, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS
Britain will not be able to relax its stringent lockdown rules until the end of May, a leading government adviser said on Saturday, warning that first the spread of coronavirus must slow and intense testing must be introduced.
Neil Ferguson, a leading professor of mathematical biology at Imperial College London, said work was underway to establish how more relaxed rules could be introduced in time.
“We want to move to a situation where at least by the end of May that we’re able to substitute some less intensive measures, more based on technology and testing, for the complete lockdown we have now,” he told BBC Radio.
“There is a great deal of work underway to look at how we can substitute some of the very intense social distancing currently in place with a regime more based on intensive testing, very rapid access to testing, contact tracing of contracts.
ALSO READ: Trump fires intelligence official involved in his impeachment probe
“But in order to substitute that regime for what we’re doing now, we need to get case numbers down.”
The government has put Britain into a widespread lockdown, closing pubs, restaurants and nearly all shops, while banning social gatherings and ordering people to stay at home unless it is absolutely essential to venture out.
By Friday, Britain’s death toll from the global pandemic had risen to 3,605, among 38,168 people who have tested positive for the highly infectious respiratory illness known as COVID-19.
A second senior government adviser, the chief pandemic modeller Graham Medley, told The Times newspaper on Saturday he feared Britain had painted itself in a corner with no clear exit from a strategy that will damage the economic and mental well-being of much of the population.
(Reuters)
Testing Kits Heading To Britain Contaminated With Coronavirus
Testing kits that are due to arrive in Britain were found to have been contaminated with coronavirus, according to reports. The government claims there is currently a capacity to carry out 11,000 tests a day, while the aim is to carry out 25,000 tests per day by mid-April… Read full story
The Obodo blend is a medium sweet crude extracted from the onshore OML 150 block,…
Mexico’s Foreign Relations Ministry had previously sent letters to Google asking it not to rename…
Some Local Government chairmanship aspirants in Lagos State have expressed satisfaction with the ongoing All…
No fewer than 23 people were reportedly killed in multiple weekend attacks on several communities…
All Progressives Congress (APC) has conducted its primary election for councillorship positions across the seven…
"That one (pointing at another shop), there are two deep freezers and this long freezer.…
This website uses cookies.