A senior UK health official Dr.
Jenny Harries, said the country could be in lockdown for another six months to deter the outbreak of the coronavirus. He further added that some, but not all, the drastic measures and restrictions during the current lockdown could be imposed for the next six months.
It comes as one of the government’s top coronavirus advisors, Professor Neil Ferguson said the need for intensive care units will increase within two to three weeks if the new national shutdown is successful.
He further added that the outbreak in the United Kingdom could get worse until it gets better, but the peak may be seen by the time of the Easter holidays.
On the other hand, the NHS Providers’ CEO, who oversees hospitals around the country, cautioned that medics are now facing a ‘continuous tsunami’ of coronavirus patients and that the ‘explosion’ in cases was greater than they had predicted.
This could mean that the UK experiences its toughest days in the next two weeks but indicates that there is hope at the end of the tunnel and normality will start emerging in the summer.
This fits right with forecasts made by one disease specialist earlier this month who estimated that Easter would mark the height of the first outbreak and that the epidemic would return in the fall.
While giving an interview to the BBC Radio, Dr Harries said, “Overall we are looking at a scenario of over a six-month period but not necessarily with a lock down of this level going on throughout that time.”
She further added, “We are likely able to raise some of the measures as we go forward and keep in a very controlled pattern.”
In the current week, more than 7000 cases have been reported in the UK, compared to last week, where just 2,170 cases were reported. Since all of these tests are being conducted in the hospitals and the patients who test positive needs to stay at the isolation wards has increased the demand for prevention kits, masks, and ventilators.
Professor Neil Ferguson has also advised people to strictly follow the government’s guidelines and quarantine themselves for the next few days. She further added, ‘London is going to be very difficult in the next two to three weeks.
The UK Government has already locked down the entire country and citizens are being advised to stay at home and not to go our unless there is an emergency. But despite the lockdown, the numbers of the reported cases are increasing rapidly and have created panic among the citizens.