Masks and more Covid controls SHOULD be brought back in, say ‘independent SAGE’ scientists as they back NHS leaders – even though coronavirus admissions are FALLING
- Virus rates falling and half of ‘Covid patients’ are not primarily sick with Covid
- But Indie Sage is now calling for a ‘multi-layered’ suite of pandemic restrictions
- Comes after NHS demanded more curbs and warned Easter was bad as winter
More scientists are calling for the reintroduction of Covid restrictions including masks and outdoor mixing a day after NHS leaders said ‘mitigating actions’ are needed in England.
The renewed calls for onerous public health measures are based on high levels of Covid admissions in hospitals — although these are already falling without any non-pharmaceutical interventions.
The NHS Confederation warned earlier this week that masks in crowded places and limits on meeting others indoors were needed to fight the virus, claiming this Easter would be ‘as bad as any winter’ for hospitals.
And despite figures showing half of ‘Covid patients’ in the NHS are not primarily sick with the disease, Independent Sage is now also demanding the Government intervenes to take pressure off the health service.
The group — made up of far-left scientists and an active Communist party professor — has claimed facemasks alone would not go far enough and wants a ‘multi-layered’ suite of restrictions.
But NHS England data suggests Covid admissions peaked at the start of April and are already coming down, while the Government’s testing survey suggests infections peaked at a similar time.
Indie Sage had lobbied heavily for a Christmas lockdown but quietly softened its stance after the milder Omicron wave subsided naturally and the NHS was not overwhelmed.
But its members, who have amassed huge followings on social media during the pandemic, have become vocal again in recent weeks as infection numbers and hospital rates have risen following ‘Freedom Day’.
This morning, Indie Sage’s Dr Kit Yates tweeted: ‘Masks on their own will help, but will never be enough to suppress Covid. We need multi-layered solutions to help us deal with the virus. Masks, vaccines, ventilation etc. A single layer is not enough.’
No10 has rejected the NHS’ call for more restrictions and insisted that ‘our living with Covid plan still stands’, while Sajid Javid said he was ‘proud’ of the UK’s approach.
This morning, Indie Sage’s Dr Kit Yates claimed facemasks alone would not go far enough and wants a ‘multi-layered’ suite of restrictions. It followed a call from NHS leaders earlier this week for more controls
NHS England data suggests Covid admissions peaked at the start of April and are already coming down
NHS data shows just 42 per cent of Covid patients in hospital were admitted because they were primarily unwell with the virus (blue line) by the most recent count in early April
Officially, cases have been falling for weeks but the country’s most reliable testing survey suggests they peaked in early April too
The Office for National Statistics estimates that cases were peaking on the week of April 8, when a record 4million people were carrying the virus in England
The Health Secretary tweeted a video of Chinese residents screaming from high-rise flats after being confined to their homes for days in locked-down Shanghai.
Mr Javid branded China’s Zero Covid policy as a ‘dangerous fallacy’ and praised the UK’s ‘learning to live with Covid’ approach.
Britain’s drive to vaccinate children against Covid could see officials have to bin hundreds of thousands of doses, campaigners fear.
Official figures show one in eight (12.8 per cent) jabs earmarked for youngsters aged between five and 11 in Wales have already had to be dumped.
Government sources said while the exact reason for the jabs needing to be binned is not clear, children failing to attend appointments had exacerbated the issue. Insiders also told MailOnline the problem is unlikely to be unique to Wales.
Even at a 4 per cent wastage rate — the level seen in England up to October last year — 400,000 jabs would still have to be chucked away.
The People’s Vaccine Alliance, a coalition of 90 organisations that want to end ‘vaccine apartheid’, told MailOnline the ‘shocking waste’ was caused by ministers hoarding ‘more vaccines than they can use’.
It said Pfizer should have focused on sending its jabs to countries where millions of adults have yet to have a first dose. Yesterday, the World Health Organization revealed that 20 countries are still yet to inoculate 10 per cent of their populations.
Critics of the Department of Health’s decision to offer vaccines to healthy youngsters say there is still not enough evidence they even need to be inoculated against the virus, given that it poses such little threat to them.
The comments were met with fury by Indie Sage’s Dr Deepti Gurdasani, one of the group’s most vocal members on social media.
She tweeted: ‘If we’re learning to live with the virus – letting tens of thousands of people get long Covid and >1,000 people die/wk – mostly the elderly, vulnerable, ethic minorities, the poor and disadvantaged – isn’t covering us in glory – in the name of “freedom”.’
Indie Sage only recently abandoned its Zero Covid stance after heaping praise on the likes of China for suppressing the virus and overlooked the Communist regime’s disregard for human rights.
After its calls for a Christmas lockdown last year fell flat, and amid China’s failing shutdowns, the pressure group has refocused its efforts on less draconian measures like masks, ventilation and access to therapeutics.
Yesterday, Indie Sage successfully raised £21,000 in donations, which it said will go towards its weekly broadcasts and the running of its website.
Its crowdfunding page states: ‘With extra funding we can keep going for longer, bringing the nation support and scientific advice for as long as this pandemic affects us.
‘This support costs around £2,000 a month and current funds from donations including a previous crowdfunding drive are coming to an end.’
The easing of rules in England on February 24 has coincided with infection rates spiralling to the highest levels seen throughout the pandemic, with one in 13 people estimated to be infected at the start of the month.
Health bosses say rising cases and staff sickness is impacting its ability to tackle the record backlog of patients needing care.
Millions of patients have already been told to stay away from busy A&E units unless they are genuinely dying, while ambulance services have urged some to make their own way to hospital.
The number of virus-infected patients in hospital last week breached 20,000 — the highest since February 2021 — but figures show thousands aren’t primarily ill with the virus.
And latest NHS England numbers suggest Covid hospital admissions peaked on April 5 at 2,308, falling every day since.
However, it is unclear what impact the scaling back of mass testing is having on admission numbers and there have been reports of some hospitals stopping routine Covid tests for new patients.
Deaths from Covid have also fallen dramatically thanks to jabs, natural infection and the milder Omicron variants — with around 230 daily fatalities now compared to more than 4,000 at times last year.
Despite the growing pressure for ministers to act, Downing Street has so far held firm. A spokesperson yesterday said the virus is now being viewed in No10 like any other respiratory illness.
‘There is no change to our guidance and our living with Covid plan still stands,’ they said.
‘Thanks to a combination of vaccination and treatment and our better understanding of the virus we are now able to manage it as we do with other respiratory infections, so that remains the case with our approach.’
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