A top scientist has warned the new lockdown measures don't go far enough and that we're about to make the same mistake we made in March.
Professor John Edmunds, a member of the Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said action had not been taken quickly enough back in March and that "mistake" is about to be repeated.
Speaking in a personal capacity to BBC Radio Four's Today programme, he said: "I suspect we will see very stringent measures coming in place throughout the UK at some point, but it will be too late again.
"We will have let the epidemic double and double and double again until we do take those measures.
"And then we'll have the worst of both worlds, because then to slow the epidemic and bring it back down again, all the way down to somewhere close to where it is now or where it was in the summer will mean putting the brakes on the epidemic for a very long time, very hard - which is what we had to do in March because we didn't react quick enough in March, and so I think that we haven't learned from our mistake back then and we're unfortunately about to repeat it."
Professor Edmunds said it was welcome that the Government had "done something" but that the curfew on bars and restaurants was likely to have a "trivial" effect.
He said: "I think working from home if you can is certainly a good idea. I think that the measures in terms of closing bars an hour early and restaurants at 10 - I mean, nobody goes to a restaurant after 10 anyway. I think that's fairly trivial in terms of it'll have a small impact on the epidemic.
"Overall I don't think that the measures have gone anywhere near far enough. In fact I don't even think the measures in Scotland have gone far enough."
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But the government is desperate to not have a full national lockdown again.
Today Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said if "everyone plays by the rules" then a national lockdown may not be needed at Christmas.
Speaking to Sky News he said: "Let's hope that we can get through the winter months if we take these measures and if everyone plays by the rules, and we go into Christmas not needing to go into that national lockdown with all the impact on society and families but also the damage it would do to businesses."
