Lockdown warning: Expert warns modelling projections are ‘alarming’ as we need additional measures beyond Plan B

Experts are “alarmed” over the new modelling from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) news which broke today.

The LSHTM used experimental data to look at how Omicron may transmit as the country heads into 2022 with “alarming” projections that Omicron, could potentially cause between 25,000 to 75,000 deaths in England, with 175,000 in hospital.

Experts have also warned, that if no additional measures are taken beyond the current Plan B, then over the next five months then the UK could witness theses grim projections.

Dr Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton, warned that the numbers projected by the LSHTM modelling group are “alarming.”

Dr Head said, “They illustrate clearly that we will be in for another difficult winter.

“It did not have to be this way.  There have been national and global failures in how to manage the pandemic.

“Here in the UK, the ‘Freedom Day’ lifting of all restrictions, and the progress through the government roadmap, was highlighted by many as being too quick.”

He added, “At that point, with far fewer cases to handle, the UK would have been in a better position to handle any rises in daily cases, and not already be struggling with COVID-19 cases at this time of Omicron becoming dominant.”

Rowland Kao, professor of epidemiology and data science at Edinburgh University warned the UK needs to “act quickly” to reduce the spread of Omicron.

Speaking to Sky News, Professor Kao said, “I think the really important thing to remember about the Omicron variant isn’t so much the number of cases it’s causing right now but the rate at which it is spreading.”

He warned, “If we are going to do anything to reduce the spread we need to do it quickly, we essentially need to do it now.”

Professor John Edmunds, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said, “We’re getting large numbers of cases and that will result in a large number of hospitalisations and, unfortunately, it will result in a large number of deaths, I’m pretty sure of that.

“What happens next? It’s pretty clear the virus hasn’t done with evolution. It’s going to continue to evolve.”