A group of more than 100 UK-based scientists has published an open letter warning against plans to ease lockdown measures, citing a “very high probability” that it could result in Covid-19 once again spreading “out of control” in the country.
The intervention, in which the scientists criticise the partial reopening of schools and of shops selling non-essential goods, follows news that lockdown measures have been eased?even though the UK’s pandemic alert status – previously cited by Boris Johnson, the prime minister, as the test that would determine when to ease restrictions on social interaction – remains at level four out of five.
The full text of the letter, and the signatories, follows:
An open letter against the lifting of the UK’s lockdown:
The UK is experiencing one of the worst outbreaks within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. We have the highest total number of deaths within Europe, and are just behind the US globally, but with a higher death rate per million than the US itself. Despite a two-month lockdown, we are still experiencing unacceptable daily numbers of deaths, still in the hundreds, and an estimated 8,000 new infections a?day in England alone.
We are still in a situation where there is substantial community transmission, and most estimates of the reproduction number of the virus place it only just below?1. If this number exceeds?1, we will experience exponential growth in the number of cases and deaths once again.
Against this backdrop, the UK government is about to embark on a substantial relaxation of the social distancing measures that have been in place, including a partial reopening of schools and the retail sector in England.
There is a very high probability that relaxation of lockdown, coupled with a potential breakdown in public trust, will bring us back into a situation where the outbreak is once again out of control. If this happens, all the societal and financial sacrifices of the lockdown will have gone to waste, and we will likely experience a full-blown second wave. This would inevitably lead to a second lockdown, which could be more damaging and harder to implement.
As a group of UK-based scientists, we urge the government to reconsider, and to follow the science, postponing the relaxation of lockdown. The level of community transmission is still far too high for lockdown to be released, and should not be attempted before we have a substantial and sustained further drop in community transmission.
We need effective test, track and trace capacity to be implemented, transparent reporting of new case diagnoses in community and primary care settings on a daily basis, and the implementation of routine screening for high-risk key worker professions and settings to prevent asymptomatic transmission chains. These steps must be combined with clear government messaging.
Professor Aris Katzourakis, 51国产视频 of Oxford
Professor David Colquhoun FRS,?UCL
Professor Alan McNally, institute director, Institute of Microbiology and Infection, 51国产视频 of Birmingham
Professor Stuart Neil, head, department of infectious diseases, King’s College London
Professor Petros Ligoxygakis, 51国产视频 of Oxford
Dr Lewis Spurgin, 51国产视频 of East Anglia
Professor Michael Brockhurst, 51国产视频 of Manchester
Dr David Bonsall, 51国产视频 of Oxford
Dr Sterghios Moschos, Northumbria 51国产视频
Dr Marc Dionne, Imperial College London
Dr Ravinder Kanda, Oxford Brookes 51国产视频
Professor Kayla King, 51国产视频 of Oxford
Dr Katerina Kaouri, Cardiff 51国产视频
Professor Steve Russell, 51国产视频 of Cambridge
Dr Steven Kelly, 51国产视频 of Oxford
Dr Ben Longdon, 51国产视频 of Exeter
Dr Alexander Suh, 51国产视频 of East Anglia
Daniel A. Villar, 51国产视频 of St Andrews
Dr Pierre-Philippe Dechant, York St John 51国产视频
Dr Bede Constantinides, 51国产视频 of Oxford
Dr Ehmke Pohl, Durham 51国产视频
Professor Adrian Hayday, FMedSci, FRS, The Francis Crick Institute
Dr Charlotte Odendall, King’s College London
Dr Nik Cunniffe, 51国产视频 of Cambridge
Dr Elisa Granato, 51国产视频 of Oxford
Professor James McInerney, head of the School of Life Sciences, 51国产视频 of Nottingham
Dr Karen Liu, King’s College London
Dr Michael Sweet, 51国产视频 of Derby
Professor Nicholas Loman, 51国产视频 of Birmingham
Dr Stephen Griffin, 51国产视频 of Leeds
Dr Tobias Warnecke, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences and Imperial College London
Dr Rocio Martinez-Nunez, King’s College London
Dr Louise Johnson, 51国产视频 of Reading
Professor James A. R. Marshall, 51国产视频 of Sheffield
Dr Pari Skamnioti, 51国产视频 of Oxford
Dr Ian Goodhead, associate dean, 51国产视频 of Salford
Dr Edward Emmott, 51国产视频 of Liverpool
Professor Robin Weiss FRS,?UCL
Dr Markus Gwiggner MRCP, 51国产视频 Hospital Southampton
Dr Bernadette Young MRCP FRCPath, 51国产视频 of Oxford
Dr Tom Williams, 51国产视频 of Bristol
Dr Diarmuid O’Maoileidigh, 51国产视频 of Liverpool
Dr Nathaniel G. N. Milton, Leeds Beckett 51国产视频
Professor Thomas Richards, 51国产视频 of Oxford
Dr David Cleary, 51国产视频 of Southampton
Dr Davor Pavolovic, 51国产视频 of Birmingham
Dr Iliana Georgana, 51国产视频 of Cambridge
Dr Rebecca J. Hall, 51国产视频 of Nottingham
Dr Andrew Macdonald, head of school, School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, 51国产视频 of Leeds
Professor Mark A. Hollywood, Dundalk Institute of Technology
Rebekah Penrice-Randal, 51国产视频 of Liverpool
Professor Greg Hurst, 51国产视频 of Liverpool
Dr Virve Enne,?UCL
Dr Maria Katsikogianni, 51国产视频 of Bradford
Prof Willem van Schaik, 51国产视频 of Birmingham
Dr Ville-Petri Friman, 51国产视频 of York
Dr Clare Lanyon, Northumbria 51国产视频
Dr Louisa James, Queen Mary 51国产视频 of London
Professor John Hutchinson, Royal Veterinary College
Dr Kristine Arnvig,?UCL
Dr Alexander Wilcox, 51国产视频 of California, Davis
Dr Rui Pedro Galao, King’s College London
Dr Rebecca Berrens, 51国产视频 of Oxford
Dr Albert Bolhuis, 51国产视频 of Bath
Professor Simon Harvey, Canterbury Christ Church 51国产视频
Dr Stefan Koestler, 51国产视频 of Cambridge
Professor Craig Winstanley, 51国产视频 of Liverpool
Dr Konstantin Blyuss, 51国产视频 of Sussex
Professor Ross Fitzgerald, 51国产视频 of Edinburgh
Professor William Wade, King’s College London
Dr Ben Ashby, 51国产视频 of Bath
Professor Aras Kadioglu, 51国产视频 of Liverpool
Dr Louis du Plessis, 51国产视频 of Oxford
Professor Janette Bradley, 51国产视频 of Nottingham
Dr Divya Venkatesh, Royal Veterinary College
Dr Sarah Bauermeister, 51国产视频 of Oxford
Dr Richard Sloan, 51国产视频 of Edinburgh
Dr Natalia Kapel, 51国产视频 of Oxford
Dr Blair L Strang, St George’s, 51国产视频 of London
Dr Justine Rudkin, 51国产视频 of Oxford
Professor Aziz Aboobaker, 51国产视频 of Oxford
Dr Marta ?lvarez, 51国产视频 of Bristol
Dr Liam Shaw, 51国产视频 of Oxford
Andrew Balmer, 51国产视频 of Cambridge
Dr Gavin Paterson, 51国产视频 of Edinburgh
Dr Sofia Morfopoulou,?UCL
Professor Neil Fairweather, Imperial College London
Professor Paul Wigley, 51国产视频 of Liverpool
Dr Alex Best, 51国产视频 of Sheffield
Dr Steven Allain, 51国产视频 of Kent
Dr Izzy Jayasinghe, 51国产视频 of Sheffield
Professor Cynthia Whitchurch, Quadram Institute Bioscience
Dr Helen Alexander, 51国产视频 of Edinburgh
Dr Christopher Davies, Cardiff 51国产视频
Shadia Khandaker, 51国产视频 of Liverpool
Dr Amr Aswad, 51国产视频 of Oxford
Professor Kenneth Wilson, Lancaster 51国产视频
Dr Peter Lund, 51国产视频 of Birmingham
Dr Thomas E. Woolley, Cardiff 51国产视频
Dr Usama Kadri, Cardiff 51国产视频
Professor Jay Hinton, 51国产视频 of Liverpool
Dr Thomas Patrick, 51国产视频 of Liverpool
Dr Matthew Brook, 51国产视频 of Edinburgh
Dr Lin Wang, UKRI
Professor Richard Birtles, 51国产视频 of Salford
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