‘Boris Johnson’s key adviser on the coronavirus pandemic has urged the prime minister to find a way of ending the nationwide lockdown, according to a report.
Graham Medley, an expert in the spread of infectious diseases, suggested the government had “painted itself into a corner” by imposing widespread restrictions on movement that he claims may cause more damage than the epidemic itself.
He suggested the potential harm caused by the restrictions included economic damage. “I don’t mean to the economy generally, I mean to the incomes of people who rely on a continuous stream of money and their children, particularly the school closure aspect,” he told The Times.
“There will also be actual harms in terms of mental health, in terms of domestic violence and child abuse, and in terms of food poverty.”
He argued that the UK may still have to reconsider the herd immunity strategy to “allow people to catch the virus in the least deadly way possible”, the newspaper claimed.’
Read more: Coronavirus: Boris Johnson urged to reconsider lockdown strategy by virus adviser
