SCIENTISTS CALL FOR A TOUGHER LOCKDOWN

THE PRESSURE on the NHS is going to get “a lot worse” over the next few weeks warn doctors, as they struggle with record numbers of coronavirus patients and staff shortages.

- Marco Giannangeli

Scientists advising the Government have also said restrictions under the new national lockdown are too “lax” to tackle the spread of Covid-19 during the winter months.

They believe the current lockdown may lead to a plateau of cases across the UK rather than the dramatic cut seen following the introduction of the first lockdown last March.

Dr Simon Walsh, deputy chairman of the British Medical Association’s consultants committee, said the epidemiology from the previous wave indicates the situation is likely to worsen over the next two to three weeks.

The London-based emergency care doctor told BBC Breakfast: “I’m afraid all of us who are working on the frontline believe – and this is based on the evidence, I’m afraid – that it is going to get worse before it gets better.”

Dr Justin Varney, director of public health at Birmingham City Council, added hospitals had still not seen the full extent of patients who caught coronavirus over Christmas.