Britain may have entered Covid-19 third wave, say top scientists

BRITAIN may be in its third wave of Covid-19, top scientists have warned and cautioned the UK government to consider postponing the June 21 reopening.

Leading microbiologist Prof Ravi Gupta and a co-opted member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) told the BBC on Sunday (30) that the recent rise of Covid-19 numbers “is the signs of an early wave.”

"Of course, the number of cases is relatively low at the moment - all waves start with low numbers of cases that grumble in the background and then become explosive, so the key here is that what we are seeing here is the signs of an early wave,” said Gupta.

He added that the huge number of vaccinated people in the UK meant this wave would probably take longer to emerge than previous ones.

Gupta also said ending restrictions in June should be delayed "by a few weeks whilst we gather more intelligence," and claimed the third wave will put pressure on the NHS when the health service is trying to get back to normal.

Concerns are being raised over the rising number of Indian variant infections as more than 3,000 new Covid cases were being reported for a fifth successive day on Sunday, with Blackburn emerging as the new hotspot, replacing Bolton.

A similar warning was given recently by Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, who is also concerned that the UK is seeing the early signs of a third wave. Dr William Hanage, a professor of the evolution and epidemiology of infectious disease at Harvard, claimed that the UK’s current approach is not enough to prevent a third wave of infections.

The series of warnings come amid Downing Street’s continued stance on lockdown reopening, maintaining that it is too soon to alter or delay the plan to lift all lockdown rules in England on June 21.

“We have to look at the data and we will share that with the country,” vaccines deployment minister Nadhim Zahawai said on Sunday (30) as he refused to rule out that the planned unlocking could be tweaked, adding that an announcement will be made on June 14.