Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Warning of Tens of Thousands of Deaths in England from Covid-19 Second Wave

THE GUARDIAN: Tiered lockdown system not adequate for preventing high rate of virus infections daily, epidemiologist tells MPs

Tens of thousands of deaths are now inevitable in a second wave of coronavirus infections sweeping across England because of the failure to contain the virus, a government scientific adviser has warned.

John Edmunds, a professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, told MPs on Wednesday that without further measures England’s tiered Covid-19 strategy would lead to high numbers of new infections every day, putting the NHS under strain and driving up the death toll.

“If you look at where we are, there is no way we come out of this wave now without counting our deaths in the tens of thousands,” Edmunds, an epidemiologist, told the joint hearing of the Commons science and technology committee, and the health and social care committee. » | Ian Sample, Science editor | Wednesday, October 21, 2020