'Train wreck' warning over Covid-19 opening up as new UK-wide case numbers hit six-month high
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A SHARP rise in UK-wide Covid cases has prompted concerns significant further opening up south of the border from Monday could be "quite the train wreck", a Highland GP has said.
Dr Ross Jaffrey of the Safe Hands, Saves Lives group made his remarks as statistics showed the UK hit almost 50,000 new cases yesterday — the highest daily number since January. He said the majority of those are young males.
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Against that backdrop, he suggested the reopening happening south of the border from Monday of next week is "looking like quite the train wreck".
He posted: "Focus needs to be placed on resourcing clinical teams, not testing. Case levels around 100,000 a day will make both lateral flow and track and trace systems next to useless. Sheer weight of numbers will push our public health teams to the edge.
"Contact tracing is down to you for close contacts. We should not give up on trying to slow down the pace of infection transmission. In Scotland we are experiencing a slight lull. Hopefully this is not a reflection of apathy with people no longer seeking tests when they should.
"Figures showing vaccination is preventing hospital admission in over 95 per cent of cases. The delta variant is still being detected in vaccinated groups - more so if an individual only had one dose."
Dr Jaffrey, who has been involved in the vaccination rollout and has patients in Muir of Ord and Beauly, has been monitoring the crisis since the first lockdown and offering useful hygiene information on the group.
In a seminar this week, England's chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty warned that Covid hospitalisations were doubling every three weeks and could hit "scary numbers".
He said the pandemic still has a ling way to run in the UK.
He said: "He said: "I don't think we should underestimate the fact that we could get into trouble again surprisingly fast.I think saying the numbers in hospital are low now, that does not mean the numbers will be low in hospital in five, six, seven, eight weeks' time.They could actually be really quite serious."
Scotland will move to Level 0 from Monday. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said this week that the move would be made with some changes to the original indicative plan.
She said: ""This is intended to ensure that our pace of easing restrictions is sensible, in light of the challenge we continue to face from the Delta variant, and I will also confirm that certain mitigations, such as the mandatory wearing of face coverings will remain in place – not just now but in all likelihood for some time to come."
She said the continued wearing of face coverings was for the protection and assurance of the clinically vulnerable and added: "The continued success of the vaccination programme continues to give us some hope."
Ms Sturgeon said that it was felt that a "gradual approach" to lifting restrictions was the best way forward and added: "We will continue to ease restrictions – we are not slamming on the brakes – but we will do so carefully."
Other changes to Level 0 included:
• venues will have to close at midnight instead of following local licensing regulations;
• physical distancing in indoor and outdoor public places will be limited to 1m;
• a gradual return to offices is postponed until the move beyond Level 0 which would be August 9 at the earliest.
Ms Sturgeon said the move restored more freedom to us and added: "Indeed it is worth emphasizing that we are no longer in lockdown, this is nothing like it, life is much more normal than at any time since the start of this pandemic."
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