A public health expert has said that the UK's third national lockdown should continue for the next 12 weeks.
Boris Johnson initially suggested the lockdown would remain in place until at least mid-February, and senior Cabinet minister Michael Gove has since warned that restrictions may have to remain in place until March.
Now, Professor Devi Sridhar, chair of public health at Edinburgh University, has said that restrictions should remain in place until the end of March.
Prof Sridhar told Times Radio although lockdowns are “crude” and “catastrophic” for the economy and mental health, one is needed given the prevalence of Covid-19 across the UK currently.
But, she also warned that a post-lockdown strategy must be put in place to suppress the virus going into the summer.
She said: “With the numbers we’re at, there’s no other choice.
“For me, it’s a three-phase strategy – first is right now, it’s crude, it’s catastrophic for the economy and for people’s mental health, but a lockdown.
“Get those numbers down, protect the NHS for the next 12 weeks.”
She added: “When we get into March and hopefully numbers are low again and we get into seasonal change, get your testing and tracing and your border measures in place to really suppress.
“And then in the summer, instead of taking your foot off the gas and saying ‘let’s open up everything’, actually think ‘how do we prevent this winter from happening again?'
"How do we actually protect that low prevalence, get emergency teams in place in case there are flare-ups… go in, have a quick, sharp one-week lockdown and get your testing and tracing to clear the virus.”
