LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th July, 2021) British Medical Association (BMA) council chair Chaand Nagpaul on Tuesday criticized the UK government's decision to lift all remaining COVID-19 restrictions in England by July 19, warning that "it makes no sense" to knowingly accept that infections will increase in coming weeks.
"We cannot see any sense in why the government is removing the requirement for people to be protecting one another in a crowded underground train or a bus, or a crowded shop. It makes no sense to be knowingly accepting increasing infections at a time when that infection rise is translating into increased hospitalization," Nagpaul told BBC Breakfast.
On Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that as part of final phase of the roadmap out of the lockdown, most of the last remaining restrictions in England would be lifted from July 19, despite the latest scientific modeling showing that coronavirus cases could reach 100,000 per day and the daily death toll could climb to between 100 and 200.
The decision means that there will be no limits on the number of people allowed to gather indoors or outdoors, and the one-meter (three-feet) rule for social distancing as well as the capacity caps on large sports and cultural events will be lifted.
Nightclubs and all remaining businesses will also be allowed to re-open, wearing face masks will no longer be compulsory in shops and public transport and there will be no limits on the number of visitors to care home residences.
Although he acknowledged that the pandemic is not over and warned that the ending of most restrictions was "not an invitation for a great jubilee," Johnson claimed that postponing the easing of restrictions into the fall would risk reopening at a time when schools are back from their summer holidays and people are spending more time indoors as the weather turns cold.
Earlier, the BMA council chair had branded the government's decision to press ahead with its plan as "irresponsible" and "perilous."
"Scrapping the remaining restrictions next week - when a significant proportion of the population will not have been fully vaccinated - will give this deadly virus an opportunity to re-tighten its grip; pushing infection rates up, increasing hospitalizations and people ill with long-Covid, risking new vaccine-resistant variants developing, and putting more lives at unnecessary risk," Nagpaul said in a statement released on Monday evening.
Labour lawmaker and Shadow Foreign Minister Lisa Nandy also criticized the Conservative government, accusing it of giving "mixed messages" on the COVID-19 guidance that would be implemented after the so-called freedom day.
"We need absolute clarity from this government," Nandy told Sky news.
COVID-19 cases have doubled in the United Kingdom over the past 11 days, and on Monday 34,471 new cases and another six deaths were recorded, while 34.8 million people, the equivalent of 66.2% of the country's adult population, have been fully vaccinated so far.
