With hospitalisations and deaths rising sharply and the NHS struggling to cope, scientists have called for a tightening of lockdown measures in England.
“We’re in a crisis – that crisis is not only killing people, it’s compromising the ability and the effectiveness of the NHS, including its ability to roll out the vaccinations,” said Stephen Reicher, a professor of social psychology at the University of St Andrews and a member of a committee advising the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (Sage).
“We need to act early, and act hard – half measures really don’t work, they give you all the pain, but they don’t give you the gain.”
Reducing contact with others, principally in indoor and poorly ventilated spaces, is key. Scientists say we need to close what we can, with the least damage, beyond the current measures.
As the new Covid variant makes its presence felt, here are some ways the government could limit the damage.
Narrow the definition of key workers
Apart from food shopping the main reason people tend to leave their homes is for work – at the moment that activity is declining, but it is still higher than the original March lockdown, said Reicher.
“And the reason for that … is that we are much broader in defining what we call essential work.”
For example, after the government closed schools, except for children of key workers, “one in six schools had over a third of its pupils returning, and one in eight schools had a half or more … it made a complete mockery of the policy,” Reicher said.
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