One of the UK's chief scientists has warned that more Covid-19 restrictions may soon be needed.
Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser for the UK Health Security Agency, said more measures may have to be brought in, adding that the Government has “very difficult” decisions ahead.
She told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show: “I think that the restrictions that the Government have announced are sensible. I think that we may need to go beyond them. But we’ll need to watch carefully what happens with hospitalisations.”
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Dr Hopkins added: “The challenge we have and the challenge Government has is trying to balance the risks and benefits to the society, to people, to the population, to the economy, and to health, and they have very difficult decisions ahead of them.”
The government is reportedly considering introducing more restrictions due to the alarming surge in Omicron cases, just days after Boris Johnson announced the introduction of Plan B.
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Speaking on Friday, Michael Gove said that while the current approach was “proportionate”, he acknowledged that “we absolutely do need to keep everything under review”.
And Dr Hopkins this morning said a large wave of Omicron infections is “inevitable” and that people will have to reduce social contacts as much as possible.
“It’s inevitable that we’re going to see a big wave of infections. What we are not yet clear on, and which is what we are basically making sure people go out and get their vaccination for, is how much that will affect hospitals.”
Dr Hopkins added: “I think we will have to reduce our social contacts as much as we can which is the working-from-home guidance.
“I think about my social contacts as sort of a basket. Every time I meet somebody I’m putting myself at risk. If I’ve got infection, I’m putting them at risk too.
“So I think we have to use lateral flow devices if we’re going to go out and meet people socially, or we have to go to work.”
Asked if she is worried the new wave of infections could overwhelm the NHS, she said: “We are worried and we’re right to be worried because we don’t have enough data to narrow those predictions and those models down to the best finest detail yet, and it takes time to do that.
“I still think it will take another two weeks before we’re clear on whether the severity that South Africa have reported in some scenarios, but not in all, is going to be reflected here.
“We have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. And I think our job is to highlight that this is a big wave. It’s coming straight at us. If we see even half the severity that we saw with Delta then we’re facing a very large number of hospitalisations and potential deaths.”
Yesterday, scientists warned there could be as many as 75,000 deaths due to the Omicron variant if more measures were not brought in.
Experts from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) said that even under the most optimistic scenario, which would see a low immune escape of Omicron from vaccines and high effectiveness of booster jabs, a wave of infection is projected.
They estimate this could lead to a peak of more than 2,000 daily hospital admissions, with 175,000 hospital admissions and 24,700 deaths between December 1 this year and April 30, 2022.
