England’s three-tier system is due to be reviewed on 16 December.
Decisions on tiers are made by ministers, based on the latest available data and advice from public health experts.
Relaxing Covid restrictions could trigger a third wave of the virus during the busiest time of year for hospitals, NHS bosses have warned.
In its letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, NHS Providers said while there were “good signs of progress” in some parts of the country, there was a “worrying increase in infection rates across a wide range of areas”, including Essex, Kent, London and parts of Lincolnshire.
It called for areas to be moved into tier three - the highest level of restrictions - “as soon as this is needed, without any delay”.
Earlier this week, some health experts called for the capital to be placed in tier three “now” after official figures showed Outer London had a higher infection rate than some areas already in the top tier.
NHS Providers added that “the evidence of the second wave suggests that unless infection rates fall to a very low level, as they did in London after the first wave, the virus will spread again quickly as soon as restrictions on social contact are relaxed”.
“Trust leaders are worried that if infection rates remain as high as they are at the moment, relaxing the restrictions will trigger a third wave,” it said.
With new cases running at over 20,000 per day (600,000 per month), it seems patently obvious that the pandemic is still not under control, even with the present restrictions (allegedly) in place, so any relaxation of rules must exacerbate the situation … but will BJ heed NHS advice or, as usual, go for the populist solution … :?:
