Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to avoid imposing a circuit-breaker lockdown back in September was 'catastrophic' and warns talk of 'Freedom Day' tomorrow is 'premature' as the 'pandemic is far from over', according to a senior member of SAGE.
Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust charity, says the Government's scientific advisory group met on September 21 last year and recommended 'a package of interventions' to reverse the 'exponential' surge in cases which followed the easing of restrictions last summer.
The measures including a short lockdown, known as a 'circuit-breaker', restrictions on the economy such as the closure of hospitality businesses and gyms and continued work from home, draconian bans on households mixing except for those in support bubbles, and a move to online university and college learning, Sir Jeremy says.
An accompanying paper summarising the impact of various restrictions noted that 'not acting now to reduce cases will result in a very large epidemic with catastrophic consequences in terms of direct Covid-related deaths and the ability of the health service to meet needs', he added.
However, the Prime Minister's refusal to impose a short lockdown in September allowed the epidemic to 'continue its upward trajectory' and 'fostered the conditions for the arrival and then the domination of new variants', Sir Jeremy claims.
In an extract from his new book Spike: The Virus vs. The People - the Inside Story, which is being serialised by the Times and the Sunday Times, he said the Government 'had no excuse' for not imposing restrictions earlier, claiming 'data was clearly showing the epidemic was climbing, week after week after week' and that 'we knew what a lockdown could achieve'.
Sir Jeremy accused Cabinet ministers of trying to rescue the economy which it devastated during the pandemic 'at the cost of [Covid] lives and health' - a policy he branded 'misguided'. He also claimed Mr Johnson told former No10 aide Dominic Cummings that lockdowns were 'bulls***t' and had said: 'I wish I'd been the mayor in Jaws and kept the beaches open.'
He added: 'The missteps are clear: the decision on September 21 not to introduce a circuit-breaker; the wait until November before locking down; the premature lifting of lockdown on December 2. These set the scene for what can only be described as the carnage of January and February 2021.
'The loss of life in that short period dwarfed the first wave in spring last year. Tragedy is too mundane a word to describe what happened: many of these deaths were preventable.'
The Wellcome Trust director has now warned that talk of 'Freedom Day' tomorrow - when most remaining legal curbs on social contact are to be ditched - is 'premature' as he claims the 'pandemic is far from over' and urges the Government to donate vaccines to poorer countries. 'Nobody is safe until we all are,' he adds.
As plans to scrap most remaining legal restrictions on social contact in England tomorrow fall into disarray amid surging virus cases, it emerged:
Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are to avoid going into self-isolation despite close contact with Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who has Covid, Downing Street confirmed today; Mr Johnson cancelled plans for a Churchillian 'Freedom Day' event at an historic venue associated with the wartime leader after No 10 became alarmed by the surge in the number of infections; The UK moved closer to the previous peak of 68,000 daily cases, recorded in January, with infections reaching 54,674; Figures also showed 740 patients had been admitted to hospital in the previous 24 hours and 41 deaths were reported; A total of 67,956 people had their first vaccine and 188,976 their second, bringing the number of fully vaccinated people to 35,732,297 - or 67.8 per cent of all adults. Mr Javid became embroiled in a row with Mr Sunak over plans for a £10 billion-a-year 'health tax' to clear the backlog of operations and fund care for the elderly, with sources telling the Mail on Sunday that Mr Johnson had asked Mr Javid to pressure the Chancellor to impose the levy; Prince Charles has told aides that he will wear a mask only when Government advice dictates that he should do so; Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the Government may have to reimpose lockdown if Covid cases continue to rise, adding: 'The warning light on the NHS dashboard is not flashing amber, it is flashing red'; The Olympic athletes' village in Tokyo recorded its first Covid case, prompting fears for the Games.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to avoid imposing a circuit-breaker lockdown back in September was 'catastrophic' and warns talk of 'Freedom Day' tomorrow is 'premature' as the 'pandemic is far from over', according to senior SAGE member Sir Jeremy Farrar
The UK moved closer to the previous peak of 68,000 daily cases, recorded in January, with infections reaching 54,674. Figures also showed 740 patients had been admitted to hospital in the previous 24 hours and 41 deaths were reported
Tomorrow morning, most Covid-19 restrictions are being lifted across England, although governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are re-opening at a slower pace
In the book extract, Sir Jeremy said opposition to a circuit-breaker in lockdown stemmed from the Cabinet's so-called 'economic hawks', 'ideological' anti-lockdown Tory backbenchers and 'other scientists offering different opinions'.
The Wellcome Trust director said the Great Barrington Declaration - which proposed collective immunity rather than shutdowns to manage the virus - was 'dangerous' and 'ideology masquerading as science and the science was still nonsense'.
He added: 'Nonetheless, conflicting expert opinions serve a useful purpose, as they do in climate research: they allow politicians and others, sometimes even scientists themselves, to pick a worldview that suits an ideological bias.'
Sir Jeremy is now warning against rushing to ease restrictions from tomorrow, claiming that though the vaccines have 'weakened' the link between infection and severe illness, 'it is not yet, however, broken'.
Writing in the Sunday Times, he writes: 'The virus continues to circulate in this country at high levels, as it does globally. It is essential that we are cautious as restrictions are lifted, and that we act responsibly and considerately; as individuals and as a
