Coronavirus: Hundreds of experts accuse government of ‘risking lives’ over COVID-19 plan

Hundreds of experts have accused the government of “risking many more lives than necessary” over its plan to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.

Thousands of deaths could potentially be avoided if social distancing measures were put in place immediately, the group of people from a wide range of departments, including mathematical science, biology, pharmaceuticals, physics, zoology, employment law and economics, add in an open letter.

Such action could slow the spread of COVID-19 “dramatically”, they say.

They also warn that under “unconstrained growth”, the virus could affect “millions of people in the next few weeks”.

That would “most probably” put the NHS at “serious risk of not being able to cope with the flow of patients needing intensive care”, it is claimed.

The signatories say they are “deeply preoccupied” with the timeline of the proposed plan, announced on Thursday, which “aims at delaying social distancing measures even further”.

Ten more people have died in the UK after being diagnosed with coronavirus, with 1,140 cases now confirmed.

Spain is going into lockdown, and the UK and Ireland are to be added to America’s European travel ban at midnight on Monday, eastern standard time (0400 GMT).

In other developments:

• Ten more patients have died in England after testing positive for COVID-19, bringing the total UK deaths to 21
• The PM will be told by Virgin Atlantic bosses that the airline industry needs government aid worth up to £7.5bn, Sky News learns
• Hundreds of people, including scientists, have written to the government urging immediate “more restrictive measures” be brought in to enforce social distancing
• Donald Trump confirms European travel ban is to be extended to the UK and Ireland on Monday, as he tests negative for coronavirus after meeting an infected Brazilian official
• Jet2 planes heading to Spain turned back in mid-air as the airline announced it was cancelling all flights to the country
• Travel company TUI cancelled holidays booked in Spain this weekend
• Private hospital beds may be taken over for coronavirus patients
• British food retailers are urging customers to shop responsibly

The 245 experts living and working in the UK write: “We consider the social distancing measures taken as of today as insufficient, and we believe that additional and more restrictive measures should be taken immediately, as is already happening in other countries across the world.”

They observe that the growth of infections in the UK is “in line with the growth curves already observed in other countries, including Italy, Spain, France, and Germany”.

They continue: “The same data suggests that the number of infected will be in the order of dozens of thousands within a few days.

“Going for ‘herd immunity’ at this point does not seem a viable option, as this will put the NHS at an even stronger level of stress, risking many more lives than necessary.”

Herd immunity is when a large proportion of the population has become immune to something, thereby providing some protection to others who are not immune.

A Department of Health and Social care spokesman responded, saying: “Herd immunity is not part of our action plan, but is a natural by-product of an epidemic.

“Our aims are to save lives, protect the most vulnerable, and relieve pressure on our NHS.

“We have now moved out of the contain phase and into delay, and we have experts working round the clock. Every measure that we have or will introduce will be based on the best scientific evidence.

“Our awareness of the likely levels of immunity in the country over the coming months will ensure our planning and response is as accurate and effective as possible.”

(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: Hundreds of experts accuse government of ‘risking lives’ over COVID-19 plan