Public health expert, Professor Devi Sridhar, has suggested an extended 12 week lockdown is needed to help reduce the number of Covid-19 cases in the UK.
Chair of public health at Edinburgh University and adviser to Nicola Sturgeon, Professor Sridhar has said the measures are need to help alleviate the pressure currently being placed on the NHS.
Speaking to The Times, she said: “with the numbers we’re at, there’s no other choice,
“For me, it’s a three-phase strategy; first is right now, it’s crude, it’s catastrophic for the economy and for people’s mental health, but a lockdown.
“Get those numbers down, protect the NHS for the next 12 weeks.
She then added: “When we get into March and hopefully numbers are low again and we get into seasonal change, get your testing and tracing and your border measures in place to really suppress,
“And then in the summer, instead of taking your foot off the gas and saying ‘let’s open up everything’, actually think ‘how do we prevent this winter from happening again?
“How do we actually protect that low prevalence, get emergency teams in place in case there are flare up, go in, have a quick, sharp one-week lockdown and get your testing and tracing to clear the virus.”
