According to an article published on the BBC news, People may need to wear face coverings and socially distance for several years until we return to normality, a leading epidemiologist has predicted.
Instructions about staying safe
Mary Ramsay, the head of immunisation at Public Health England, said “basic measures could be in place until other countries successfully roll out jabs”. A return of big spectator events required careful monitoring and clear instructions about staying safe.
The defence secretary has not ruled out the foreign holiday ban being extended .Ben Wallace told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show that booking a break abroad now would be “premature” and “potentially risky”.
Coronavirus vaccine doses
The UK set another record for the number of coronavirus vaccine doses given in a single day on Saturday, with 844,285 jabs. Restrictions such as face coverings in crowded places and social distancing had become accepted by many and still allowed the economy to function.
Dr Ramsey said “people have got used to those lower-level restrictions now, and people can live with them, and the economy can still go on with those less severe restrictions in place”.
Not to relax too quickly
“So I think certainly for a few years, at least until other parts of the world are as well vaccinated as we are, and the numbers have come down everywhere, that is when we may be able to go very gradually back to a more normal situation,”
Warning it was “very important that we do not relax too quickly”, Dr Ramsay said any circulating virus would inevitably pick on those who are vulnerable. “We have to look very carefully before any of these restrictions are lifted,” she said.
Precautionary measures
Prof Chris Whitty, the UK government’s chief medical adviser, told MPs earlier this month that it was hoped “simple interventions like washing hands, face masks where appropriate, test-and-trace, and above all vaccines” would keep the virus controlled beyond the summer.
Precautions To Be Taken
A group of government scientific advisers said last month that “maintaining a baseline of policies which reduce transmission” will be necessary for some time to come. Those experts said these could include continuing test-and-trace, self-isolation, and public messaging that encourages “voluntary actions to reduce risks”.
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Source : BBC
