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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
World
Jess Flaherty

Health experts concerned government ministers are lifting coronavirus lockdown too quickly

Health experts have raised concerns the government is lifting the lockdown too quickly.

The government announced the country was going into lockdown on March 23 in a bid to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

Now, some lockdown rules have been eased as the country works towards emerging from these unprecedented times.

But the president of the Association of Directors of Public Health said experts are concerned ministers are lifting the coronavirus lockdown too quickly, saying the Government's own five tests have not been met.

PA reports Dr Jeanelle de Gruchy told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The five tests haven't yet been met.

"In terms of the R (rate of infection), it's 0.7 to 0.9 in the latest Government assessment.

"It is below one but it's a very limited room for manoeuvre isn't it and we know how quickly this virus can spread and it's difficult to predict then with quite a lot of the measures being eased at once what the impact that will have on the R value.

"We're also concerned about meeting all the other operational challenges ready to meet a potential rise in infections."

She said the national testing programme and the test and trace scheme must be "robust and ready", and personal protective equipment (PPE) supply must be adequate.

She added: "We're not feeling just yet that we're confident enough to meet any potential challenge if the government goes too quickly on easing lockdown measures."

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