ENGLAND has been urged to copy Scotland and keep some Covid restrictions in place ahead of it opening up on “Freedom Day”.
Professor Mark Woolhouse, who advises both UK and Scottish governments, said the approach being taken by Boris Johnson was “somewhat naive”.
His warning came as UK Health Minister Sajid Javid yesterday revealed he had tested positive for Covid-19, while the UK recorded more than 50,000 daily cases for the second day running.
READ MORE: Sajid Javid says he is self-isolating after testing positive for Covid
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon issued a reminder that the final lifting of lockdown measures applies to England only, with Scotland moving into Level 0 restrictions tomorrow.
In a tweet she said: “We’re all desperate to be ‘free’ of Covid but we can’t simply wish it away. Even though cases falling in Scotland just now, virus is still a threat.
“Keeping certain measures while we vaccinate is important.”
Woolhouse, who is professor of infectious disease epidemiology at Edinburgh University, said he had been concerned for months that a “big release” of unlocking would bring potential for a “very large wave” of cases.
He told Times Radio: “I was always concerned, and I’ve said so many times, that this idea that it would be a final ‘Freedom Day’ was, I have to say, somewhat naive.
“The public health expectation was that we would need additional measures to keep the rate of increase of cases under control.”
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Woolhouse added the insistence by the Government that unlocking would be irreversible “painted (them) into both a political and public health corner” should circumstances change.
“This is an unprecedented situation, it’s a new pandemic and flexibility is extremely important in the public health response.”
Javid, who has received both vaccine doses, said he took a lateral flow test yesterday morning after feeling a “bit groggy” and it came back positive. The Liberal Democrats said it showed “no-one is safe” from the virus and urged the UK Government to rethink its “reckless plans” for England tomorrow.
Former UK health secretary Jeremy Hunt said lockdown restrictions may have to be reimposed if Covid cases continue to rise over summer and into autumn.
He said: “The warning light on the NHS dashboard is not flashing amber, it is flashing red.”
A leading health expert also criticised the UK Government for not reacting fast enough in the early stages of the pandemic. Sage adviser Sir Jeremy Farrar described trying to achieve herd immunity by natural infection is a “mirage”.
Yesterday 2317 new cases of Covid-19 and four deaths were reported in Scotland.
The Scottish Government figures show a total of 49 people were in intensive care and 517 in hospital.
An outbreak of the virus has hit Perth Prison, it emerged yesterday, with 97 prisoners testing positive and all inmates having to self-isolate while mass testing gets under way.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Government said the vaccination programme will complete first doses for all over 18s who have attended scheduled appointments by the end of today. This does not include those who have rearranged their initial appointment.
It is also expected that all adults will have received two doses by Sunday, September 12.
A new research programme into the effects of long Covid has also been announced, backed by £19.6 million of funding from the UK Government. It includes a £1m project at Glasgow University, which will assess a weight management programme.
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