Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has said there are some hard months to come with Covid rates running "very hot" going into the winter.
In a series of sobering interviews with the BBC England's deputy chief medical officer painted a bleak picture of the months ahead. He also said deaths were rising and there were signs infections were starting to "penetrate" older age groups.
"I personally feel there are some hard months to come in the winter and it’s not over," he said. "I think a whole range of behaviours, including the use of face coverings, but generally the caution that people take or don’t take in terms of interacting with each other – that is going to be a big determinant in what happens between now and the kind of darkest months of the winter."
Read more: For more health-related content please go here
He added that Covid levels were "running this hot, this early in the autumn season". He said that while cases appeared to have stabilised, they were very high, and above most of Europe. Wales has the highest rate in the UK with 564.8 cases for every 100,000 people in the last week, compared to 438 in Northern Ireland, 416 in England and 328 in Scotland.
Professor Van-Tam, who became a well know face in the early stages of the pandemic because of his regular appearances and straight talking on the Downing Street briefings used a football analogy to describe the current situation.
He said: "I would say we're kind of half-time in extra time, and I think the final whistle in terms of - I can't predict it - but my personal view is that we've got a few more months to run, and I think we'll be in a much calmer set of waters by spring."
He went on to say that he did think there would be better times after winter. He added: “I think the final whistle in terms of – I can’t predict it – but my personal view is that we’ve got a few more months to run, and I think we’ll be in a much calmer set of waters by spring.
The latest seven-day infection rate across Wales based on the cases for every 100,000 people (for the seven days up to October 29) now stands at 546 which is down sharply from just over a week ago when it was over 700. Despite this fall policy makers in Wales are still concerned at the high cases numbers with over half of the people in ICU being Covid patients.
