The chief scientific adviser to U.K prime minister Boris Johnson,Sir Patrick Vallance has stressed that moves taken by countries like Italy to ban flights from affected areas, temperature test passengers at airports, and ban mass gatherings were actually relatively ineffective.
“We need to understand where we are in the epidemic and make sure that we take the actions that need to be taken at the right time,” he said.
He added that the aim of the measures that would be introduced in future was to “reduce the peak numbers up to 50%” and lower the mortality rate in the at-risk group by 20-30%.
it would be wrong to try to “suppress” the disease completely because it could result in a winter outbreak at a time of maximum pressure for the NHS
But he said it would be wrong to try to “suppress” the disease completely because it could result in a winter outbreak at a time of maximum pressure for the NHS.
“What you can’t do is suppress this thing completely, and what you shouldn’t do is suppress it completely because all that happens then is it pops up again later in the year when the NHS is at a more vulnerable stage in the winter and you end up with another problem,” he said.
The U.K chief medical advisor Professor Chris Whitty said the UK was “very close” to imposing more stringent advice to delay the spread of Covid-19.
Britons with a mild fever will be asked to begin self-isolating within the next two weeks as the coronavirus outbreak worsens, the chief medical officer has said.
The first stage of this will be to ask those with a minor respiratory tract infection or fever to self-isolate within a week, and this advice would be introduced within 14 days.
“We have not reached that step but we are going to be reaching that step in the really quite near future,” Whitty told a Downing Street press conference.
it was important not to do too much too soon because “anything we do, we have got to be able to sustain” throughout the peak of the outbreak, and there was a risk people would “understandably get fatigued” if restrictions were introduced too early.
“This is the first step along a path towards trying to reduce firstly the delay of the epidemic and then to pull down the peak of this epidemic so that it is smaller.”
But Whitty, prime minister Boris Johnson and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance all stressed that the government is currently simply continuing to ask people to wash their hands for 20 seconds more regularly.
Amid questions over why the UK was not following other European countries in introducing more stringent measures, all three insisted the right action needed to be taken at the right time and that its effect needs to be backed by scientific advice.
Johnson said the UK was still trying to “contain” coronavirus but is making “extensive preparations” to introduce more restrictive measures to delay its spread in the coming weeks.
“We are preparing various actions to slow the spread of this disease in order to reduce the strain it places on the NHS,” he said.
“The more we can delay the peak of the spread to the summer, the better the NHS will be able to manage.”
Whitty said it was important not to do too much too soon because “anything we do, we have got to be able to sustain” throughout the peak of the outbreak, and there was a risk people would “understandably get fatigued” if restrictions were introduced too early.
Source: BBC , Huffpost
Zambia a country favoured by God and a hardworking pf government. During ebola no one here contracted it and so far no one has contracted corona. And yet the UK one of richest in world is badly affected. Be proud of your country
This is what it sounds like when you base your government policy on sound scientific evidence not this mass hysteria we are seeing all over the place. Thumbs up Sir Patrick Vallance
A hard working PF GRZ that stood by with hands folded watching while citizens burned each other in our streets for the first time in our history ?????
Every capable governments at the moment have put in place measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and heads of states are on daily bases addressing it’s nationals whilst the Zambian government is still in ‘Dununa Reverse’ mode.
Why has Zambia failed to screen and quarantine returning Chinese and other nationals from countries currently in Red zones?
Lastly, my advice to Present Lungu and other notable wings of government is to term KZ. I don’t think he is doing his boss a favour by his postings. An example was when he posted that he wasn’t in Mumbwa but in Russia doing what ever he wrote on this forum.
KZ being a private secretary to the president of Zambia should know better.
God bless Zambia.
Awe Mukwai this scientist is not clear or is not being reported properly by journalists: it would be wrong to try to “suppress” the disease completely because it could result in a winter outbreak at a time of maximum pressure for the NHS.? What does that mean?
Ba Kaizar Zulu if God loved Zambia it would not have experienced the 2018/19 drought which has brought about the high mealie meal prices and load shedding despite the day of national prayers being held in 2018.
@Kaizer… lets rather talk about cholera.
If you understood statistics, most of the countries highly affected by corona, are those with a high population density, and highly travelled. Majority of us (unlike you and your friends ofcourse) galavant between compounds that can potentially infect us more with cholera than with corona.
Maharaji typical of you. The British are just implement population control of the worst kind. So let people die because we want to make a culture of the disease. Wisdom, intelligence and having God is paramount. Let travel be restricted until the world can get a grip on this disease. Your worshipping of the west will not save you or yours. God and Africa are rising. Slowly but surely. Also Kaizer and Tarino we are tired of your PF and UPND politicking. This is a time for Zambians to unite for a fledgling nation. For economic recovery and private enterprises.