Prepare For Plan B Now, Advisers Warn Government

Senior scientific advisers to the government have told ministers to start preparing for the “rapid deployment” of basic Covid measures amid rising infections and hospitalisation rates, as local councils and authorities urged Downing Street to “act now, rather than later”.

- Samuel Lovett

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said in a meeting last week that the reintroduction of mask-wearing, working from home guidance and vaccine certification – key components of the government’s ‘plan B’ – would “reduce the need for more stringent, disruptive, and longer-lasting measures” further down the road.

In minutes published on Friday, Sage said that advice to work from home was “likely to have the greatest individual impact” in cutting infections, which are now increasing in the majority of age groups and regions across the UK, according to official data.

More than a million people were infected with Covid-19 last week, the Office for National Statistics said, with hospitalisations also on the rise in the elderly, as fears grow that vaccine immunity levels are starting to wane among the most vulnerable.

Local directors of public health alongside politicians across England have told The Independent that the government should act immediately in introducing its plan B in order to prevent the NHS from being further overwhelmed. “I definitely think we should act now, rather than later,” said Alice Wiseman, the director of public health for Gateshead Council. “We need to take action now as the NHS is on its knees.

“The measures are mild and not disruptive. They may not fully solve the issue, but will help to take the heat out of the fire. We could be forced to introduce stricter measures if we leave it too late.”