Pandemic will end by 'September or October', says expert as cases fall for seven days

PANDEMIC will be almost over “by September or October”, epidemiologist Neil Ferguson has claimed as Britain registered a fall in daily Covid numbers for seven days in a row - a decline that has “cautiously pleased” many scientists and Covid experts.

Ferguson on Tuesday (27) claimed that the UK is finally emerging from the pandemic and “by September or October”, the worst of the pandemic should be left behind.

Speaking on a BBC show, the expert, often dubbed as Professor Lockdown, said: "We are not completely out of the woods but the equation has fundamentally changed. The effect of the vaccines has been huge in reducing the risk of hospitalisation and death.

"And I think I'm positive that by late September/October time we will be looking back at most of the pandemic.

“We will still have Covid with us, we will still have people dying from Covid but we put the bulk of the pandemic behind us.”

With 23,511 new cases recorded on Tuesday (27) in the UK, daily new numbers are almost at the half of what was seen last week. 

The “dramatic” fall, which comes after the start of summer school holidays in England and Wales Freedom Day on July 19, has taken both scientists and officials by surprise, reports said. It was declared earlier that England might see up to 100, 000 daily new cases after July 19 when all the Covid-19 restrictions will come to an end. 

Despite the turnaround in numbers, some scientists, as well as officials, have warned Britons to continue to remain “cautious”.

Immunologist Prof Peter Openshaw said while he was "cautiously pleased," further daily data will show if it is a sustained fall or a "just a blip".

Openshaw, who sits on the government's New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), told Britons not to “get overexcited” on a BBC show.

"It is exciting to see those rather encouraging figures, but there have been some delays in reporting the figures and we're still waiting for the full data to be released by the Office for National Statistics,” he said.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday (27) also called for caution.

"People have got to remain very cautious and that remains the approach of the government," Johnson said on Tuesday (27) before the release of official numbers.

While daily case numbers have fallen, official data also showed 131 deaths from Covid within 28 days of a positive test registered on Tuesday, the highest daily death toll since March. The overall death toll in Britain since the start of the pandemic currently stands at 129,303.