UK could be 'more or less free' of worst coronavirus effects by December, says expert

As COVID-19 pandemic has continued to tighten its grip and there is an additional scare of variants in some countries, Professor John Edmunds, who is part of the Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said that UK should be “more or less free” of the worst effects of the novel coronavirus by December 2021. However, he also noted that some preventive rules could stay in place “probably forever”. While talking to ITV, Edmunds said, “I think we will be more or less free of this by the end of this year... say Christmas.”

He further warned of even more stringent restrictions in the UK that are required to curb the further spread of the highly-infectious disease. The health expert also said, “I think we do have to keep our borders pretty tight at the moment - nobody likes this.” Edmunds added, “But we've identified these significant new variants that are out there and we need to be able to arm ourselves against them and we don't have new vaccines that could potentially arm ourselves against these new variants yet.”

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UK ministers face backlash over new Covid policy

Meanwhile, UK ministers have been accused of an “utterly ridiculous” overreach of power as they threatened to impose ten-year imprisonment on tourists for violating COVID-19 rules. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesperson on Wednesday confirmed that the 10-year sentence on travellers, announced by the Health Secretary Matt Hancock, for people lying about returning from coronavirus hotspots, was the maximum penalty allowed under the 1981 Forgery and Counterfeiting Act, reported The Guardian. However, the move has been criticised by critics and experts. 

While Johnson’s spokesperson reportedly said that tourists failing to abide by the COVID-19 restriction rules will be charged under the Forgery Act, UK government’s top former lawyer, Jonathan Jones said on Twitter that he would “eat a face mask” if the sentence was ever imposed. Even UK PM’s opposition, Labour’s attorney general called it “misleading spin” that would never be imposed on the travellers. British PM spokesperson even confirmed that UK lawmakers would not be given a say on the new regime because the relevant law already exists. He reportedly said, “We’re using existing legislation, so there’s no requirement for a vote.”

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