ITV Good Morning Britain star Dr Hilary Jones has voiced his disapproval at lifting all Covid measures in England this week, as he commends devolved nations such as Scotland and Wales for exercising caution on this regard.
The medical expert spoke out to Lorraine Kelly this morning on her daytime programme, discussing how infection rates and death tolls will continue to soar if these decisions go ahead.
Speaking on the show this morning, Dr Hilary said: "I’m thinking that Boris has said ‘wouldn’t it be lovely after two years of restrictions and lockdowns and sacrifices, if we could get back to normal’.
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"Unfortunately life simply can’t be normal when one in 20 people still are infected with Covid-19.
“So people talk about ‘ oh we have herd immunity now’, but we clearly haven't got the safety net of herd immunity, with that many people still getting infected, and 38,000 confirmed cases just yesterday
“If we take away all restrictions all at once, that number will only increase, which is obviously bad news for all, not just the vulnerable.
"Omicron may be less serious, but it’s still serious for some people, and we have 4 million people in that very vulnerable group who will be thinking ‘wheres my freedom?’"
Dr Hilary also went on to praise public health advisors in Scotland and Wales for exercising caution on lifting restrictions in these nations, and feels they are making the correct decision.
He added: “Devolved nations such as Scotland and Wales are being much more cautious, they’re saying let’s listen to the science, they have different public health advisors saying different things to the ones in England.
“The advisors in Scotland are looking at it tonight, and Nicola Sturgeon will make an announcement soon.
"I suspect they will keep some restrictions, and will keep testing, and will keep self isolation for those who have come into contact with the virus.
“I think that’s sensible.”
Today Edinburgh Live also reported that Nicola Sturgeon will announce her latest update on Covid-19 today as Boris Johnson ends restrictions and mass testing from April.
The First Minister will announce her strategic framework for dealing with covid later this afternoon.
Ms Sturgeon is expected to speak in the Scottish Parliament this afternoon at around 2.20pm as the Scottish Government’s blueprint for managing and recovering from coronavirus is published.
Boris Johnson last night announced that in England the rest of the UK, Covid-19 restrictions would be coming to an end from April 1.
When she updated MSPs on the pandemic earlier this month, she said Scotland was “through the worst” of the Omicron wave and the situation was “much more positive” than at the start of the year.
Yesterday the SNP leader said it would be “unacceptable” for public health decisions of the devolved administrations to be impacted by funding decisions taken by the UK Government.
She said: “In terms of fixed automatic trigger points - we need to be a bit cautious about that.
“Because we know that, if we look at the risks we may face in the future in the form of new variants for example, not all variants have the same impact. You need to have attention to data, to evidence.
“But inevitably, there will have to be judgment applied in any given situation about the actual severity of the threat that any new risk might pose.”
