A retired Sheffield doctor has said the government will be taking a massive risk by lifting lockdown restrictions in accordance with the prime minister’s roadmap.
The prime minister is to put his lockdown exit plan to MPs today. The roadmap calls for all schools to reopen as early as 8 March, followed by the reinstatement of the ‘rule of six’ for outdoor gatherings later in the month.
Dr Bing Jones, a retired Associate Specialist in Haematology, said the government are taking a risk by basing their lockdown exit strategy on “the vaccine going well”.
Dr Bing Jones. Image Credit: Bing Jones.
Dr Jones, who is a member of the independent group Sheffield Community Contact Tracers, said: “There are lots of big problems with the vaccine, including supply, uptake and efficacy. We don’t know how much of a problem there could be with them yet.”
He told us: “There is still an enormous number of people with the disease and a huge number of people who aren’t protected from it.”
Image Credit: COVID-19 Symptom Tracker App
The retired doctor shared how Sheffield Community Contact Tracers conducted a study on contact tracing on an infectious diseases ward. The group found that 65% of patients studied were not contacted by NHS Test and Trace at all after testing positive for Covid-19.
He also warned the government cannot rely on people to self-isolate – government figures show that only one in five people self isolate after being advised to do so.
