A SAGE scientist has warned coronavirus is “running riot” across all age groups amid fears the country could be forced into a second lockdown.
He also said there were “many more cases particularly in younger females between the ages of 20 and 40” due to their work roles putting them at a greater risk of exposure.
Professor Calum Semple, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “For the naysayers that don’t believe in a second wave, there is a second wave.
“And, unlike the first wave, where we had a national lockdown which protected huge swathes of society, this outbreak is now running riot across all age groups.”
He added: ”We’ve got baked into the system many more cases, particularly in younger females between the ages of 20 and 40.
“We’re seeing three to four times as many women between the ages of 20 and 40 coming into hospital than men. Now that’s because they’re exposed in retail, hospitality and some educational settings.”
The Prime Minister is expected to announce further lockdown measures for England at a press conference today, which could see everywhere except essential shops and education settings closed for a month.
Boris Johnson hold a press conference at 5pm, and will be joined alongside chief medical officer for England Professor Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance.
It was understood that The Prime Minister met with his Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove and Health Minister Matt Hancock for crunch talks on Friday.
They came to the conclusion that more severe restrictions of freedoms are necessary due to the demand being placed on hospitals by rising Covid-19 cases, according to reports.
Mr Johnson is then said to have come to a reluctant conclusion that a full national lockdown for England until December 1 was necessary.
Fellow SAGE scientist Professor John Edmunds said the only way to have a “relatively safe” Christmas is to take “stringent” action now to bring the incidence of the virus “right down”.
He said the current strategy “guarantees high incidence across the country over the winter”, and that, while restrictions do not have to be national, there is a danger that, even in the South West where cases are lower, hospitals will be under pressure within weeks.
“I think the only real way that we have a relatively safe Christmas is to get the incidence right down because otherwise I think Christmas is very difficult for people – nobody wants to have a disrupted Christmas holiday period where you can’t see your family and so on,” he said.
“So I think the only way that that can be safely achieved is to bring the incidence right down, and in order to do that we have to take action now and that action needs to be stringent, unfortunately.”
But Oxford University scientist and co-founder of the Barrington Declaration Professor Sunetra Gupta said the Government should instead be considering finding ways to live with the virus as it could be around for the next "five to 10 years".
'Infections are building now, because some areas do not have the immunity we would have expected had we not gone into complete lockdown,' she said.
A national lockdown suggests "what we're looking at are continued lockdowns over five to ten years - some people are predicting".
In parts of the country shoppers were also today seen panic buying essential items with the fear that stores could run out of goods such as toilet roll and milk, which happened under similar restrictions in March.
