A NEW Zealand government adviser has said he is "astounded" at the UK Government's plan to ditch masks in indoor spaces.

People in England will no longer be legally required to wear a mask in indoor spaces after Monday.

Professor Michael Baker claimed the UK had started the pandemic “with an approach of herd immunity ... rapidly identified as unacceptable”.

He added: “It seems now, strangely, that the UK is going back to that approach, given that it has failed so dismally around the globe.”

He went on: “In New Zealand we've always looked to the UK for leadership. I mean, you ahve a remarkable depth of scientific knowledge, you've done incredibly well in vaccine development and rollout, remarkable clinical trials that we're drawing on. 

"And that's why it just seems so remarkable that you're not following even basic public health principles here. Me and my colleagues in New Zealand are quite astounded that that you're doing this, despite the amazing expertise you have in the UK."

Baker is part of more than 1200 scientists from around the globe have condemned the Prime Minister’s decision to forge ahead with so-called Freedom Day on 19 July, describing it as “unscientific and unethical”.

Boris Johnson’s ministers look set to go ahead with the decision to remove masks, despite new figures showing that coronavirus infections are continuing to rise, with one in 95 in England said to have the virus according to the Office for National Statistics.

Some of the experts convened an emergency summit on Friday, with official government advisors to New Zealand, Australia, Israel and Italy all expressing concern at the UK Government’s strategy.

Professor Stephen Duckett, secretary of the Australian Health Department, said: "If you open up when either one of those is not the case, you are doomed to an exponential rise in [Covid] cases."

Professor Jose M Martin-Moreno from the University of Valencia in Spain, added: “UK policy affects not only UK citizens, it affects the world. We cannot understand why this [unlocking] is happening.”

READ MORE: Shops and cinemas in England urge customers to keep wearing masks after Monday

The international experts were joined by some of the scientists from the UK’s Independent Sage group, which has urged Downing Street to rethink the end of restrictions.

Professor Christina Pagel, a member of the Independent Sage panel, said: “Because of our position of a global travel hub any variant that becomes dominant in the UK will likely spread to the rest of the world.”

She added: “We saw it with Alpha variant. I’m absolutely sure that we have contributed to the rise of the Delta variant in north America and Europe. UK [government] policy doesn’t just affect us – it affects everybody.”