The UK COVID lockdown could be extended if Brits aren’t careful in the coming months, Dr Hilary Jones has warned.
During today’s (Monday, March 22) episode of Good Morning Britain, the TV GP warned people not to get complacent amid the continuing vaccine rollout.
What did Dr Hilary say about the COVID lockdown on GMB?
Speaking on GMB, Dr Hilary said jabs aren’t “the only way out of this” and that Brits have to be “realistic” about the time it’s going to take for the pandemic to end completely.
He explained on the programme that “new variants” and “surges” of the killer bug, as well as people “ignoring” social distancing rules, are exasperating society’s collective recovery, pointing to the situation in Europe.
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Italy, he said, has “almost in full lockdown” in places, while France is “in trouble” due to ICU units filling up. In Germany, meanwhile, there are concerns about another lockdown.
Speaking to co-hosts Ben Shephard and Susanna Reid, he said: “There’s certainly no room for complacency. What we have here is a virus here that hasn’t changed particularly except for with new variants, so it’s still very transmissible and it’s still quite lethal for some people.
“We mustn’t rely completely on vaccination, we’ve done brilliantly well with a record number of vaccinations – over 800,000 in one day.
People should stop thinking of short durations, this is going to take some time to get through.
“But vaccination is not going to be the only way out of this, we are still going to have to abide by restrictions and regulations for some time.”
Dr Hilary reminded viewers that COVID is a “global pandemic”. He said it will “affect every population in the same way”.
Brits ‘not out of the woods yet’
He said the UK still has a large number of people in hospitals on ventilators and thousands testing positive every day, adding: “We are certainly not out of the woods yet.”
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Dr Hilary also explained: “People should stop thinking of short durations. This is going to take some time to get through, I’m afraid. But we just have to be realistic about that.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s four-step roadmap out of lockdown for England is aiming to lift all legal limits on social contact by June 21.
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