Good Morning Britain's Dr Hilary Jones has issued a stark warning to Brits after admitting he fears a second wave of coronavirus cases.
The health expert was answering questions alongside Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid when Piers asked why the UK was heading for the second-worst death toll in the world.
He said: "By comparison, Germany is still under 6,000 deaths, and is a country with 20 million more people.
"You can talk about all the vagaries of the science. But why is it that we are in such a bad position in comparison to other countries?"
Dr Hilary replied: "As a doctor, I look at the cases we had at the end of January.
"Two reported cases and no deaths. Just about 55 days later, we've got probably 35,000 to 40,000 deaths if you include the deaths in care homes as well.
"That is an enormous toll it's taken on our society. This virus behaves in ways that we don't fully understand at all.
"There's a lot of ignorance about this virus. It affects all age groups, it affects people for a long time when they get it severely.
"That's why we can't even think about the end of lockdown yet.
"If we allow a second peak, it's going to cause a lot more deaths.
"We need to end lockdown to a certain extent by phasing it and by doing it in stages of the right people at the right time. To let people think that this is nearly over is completely wrong."
Piers then added that the UK was alongside the USA in the worst countries to deal with the pandemic, saying: "Both were late to do any form of lockdown. Both did not get on top of testing until way too late.
"The key components that seem to have been learned from countries on top of it, is that you either have to have draconian lockdown, or you have to have intensive early testing. Preferably you do both."
Dr Hilary then added: "Our borders were open for far too long, we didn't close down mass gatherings.
"We did some things right, but when we couldn't control it anymore we went into suppression."
Good Morning Britain continues weekdays on ITV at 6am.
