‘Dangerous and unethical’: experts warn against government plans to drop all Covid-19 restrictions

More than 100 scientists and doctors have signed a letter accusing the UK Government of conducting a “dangerous and unethical experiment” and urging it to reconsider its plans to abandon all coronavirus restrictions. Any strategy that “tolerates high levels of infection is both unethical and illogical”, according to the 122 signatories who include Sir David King, the former chief scientific adviser and chair of Independent Sage, and Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the Council for the British Medical Association. The letter published in The Lancet comes after the Government announced that a range of coronavirus restrictions are due to be eased in England from July 19. ‘Millions will be infected’ They warned that an exponential growth of the virus “will likely continue until millions more are infected, leaving hundreds of thousands with long-term illness and disability”. It continued: “This strategy risks creating a generation left with chronic health problems and disability, the personal and economic impacts of which might be felt for decades to come.” They also stressed there was a risk of long Covid to the wider population, especially those who were vulnerable, younger people and children, as well as people who were unvaccinated. ‘Irresponsible’ Dr Nagpaul said the numbers of Covid-19 cases in the UK were soaring and while the link between hospitalisations and deaths had weakened, it had not been broken. “The Government has also airbrushed the impact of long Covid on one in 10 people getting infected and with two million having been unwell for more than three months. It would be irresponsible to inflict further suffering on millions more,” he said. “We know that masks are effective in stopping the spread, so it is nonsensical and dangerous for the Government to abandon compulsory mask-wearing in indoor public settings, such as public transport, on July 19.” Continuing targeted measures against the virus were “vital” to prevent its spread until enough of the population was fully vaccinated with both doses, he added. ‘Unethical and unacceptable’ Dr Deepti Gurdasani, an epidemiologist and senior lecturer at Queen Mary University who organised the letter, said: “The Government has made a deliberate choice to expose children to mass infection, rather than protect them in schools or vaccinate them. “This is unethical and unacceptable. Our young have already suffered so much in the past year, and are now being condemned to suffer the consequences of this dangerous experiment.” Oxford University professor Trisha Greenhalgh described the letter as “a plea to our political leaders” to listen to scientists and claimed the world turned “its incredulous eyes on the UK Government as it announced plans to abandon all mandated measures to try to control spread of the virus”. The letter also suggested the lifting of restrictions could make the disruption of children’s education more not less likely. Lifting of Covid restrictions should be ‘delayed’ The letter stated: “Allowing transmission to continue over the summer will create a reservoir of infection, which will probably accelerate spread when schools and universities reopen in autumn.” It also called on the Government to reconsider “its current strategy and take urgent steps to protect the public, including children”. It said: “We believe the Government is embarking on a dangerous and unethical experiment, and we call on it to pause plans to abandon mitigations on July 19 2021. “Instead, the Government should delay complete reopening until everyone, including adolescents, have been offered vaccination and uptake is high, and until mitigation measures, especially adequate ventilation (through investment in carbon dioxide monitors and air filtration devices) and spacing (eg by reducing class sizes), are in place in schools.” ‘An entirely unnecessary hazard’ Dr Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet, said “there is no scientific consensus over the Government’s current plans to remove protective mandates on July 19” and the nation was “at a very dangerous moment in the pandemic”. He added: “The Government plan is not, as some have characterised it, a reasonable gamble – it is an entirely unnecessary and self-inflicted hazard that will cause real harm to health.” A Department of Health & Social Care spokesperson said: A DHSC spokesperson said: “The success of the vaccine rollout is saving lives, having severely weakened the link between cases and hospitalisations. “We have taken a cautious approach to proceeding with the roadmap, delaying Step 4 to allow for millions more vaccinations so every person most at risk is fully protected. “Our approach after step 4 balances the need to protect both lives and livelihoods and we will only proceed on 19 July with our four tests having been met.” Additional reporting by PA