Covid chaos could end by winter, says microbiologist Professor Hugh Pennington
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Covid could be effectively eradicated in the UK by this winter, one of the country's top microbiologists has claimed.
Professor Hugh Pennington said seasonal flu was likely to be more of a threat in future.
But he warned that there would be the "constant threat" of importing coronavirus from abroad – however, that could be dealt with effectively with the right measures in place, he suggested.
The emeritus professor of bacteriology at Aberdeen University said the UK's high vaccination rate was "a success story" and had "undoubtedly reduced hospital admissions and deaths".
"I don't see any reason of why we should need to go into lockdown again," he said.
"We are now getting close to China and Taiwan in effectively eradicating it within our own territory.
"By this next winter Covid could be about the same problem as an average flu season and we can cope with it like we cope with flu.
"I think we will see Covid off in the UK. In fact, Covid vaccines are more effective than flu vaccines, so flu may even turn out to be more of a problem in future.
"We may not even need booster jabs in the autumn, let's wait and see. I don't see why there should be a third wave if we keep the figures down and detect the outbreaks and their causes – and put a ring around them when they happen.
"We need to get the contact tracing system better. The importation of cases can be minimised but are hard to prevent, so we have to to be constantly on top of that. That is why there has been a reluctance in opening up foreign holidays."
Prof Neil Ferguson, of Imperial College London who advises the government, said he was also “feeling fairly optimistic that we will be not completely back to normal, but something which feels a lot more normal by the summer”.
With one Covid death reported on Monday, and infection levels at an eight-month low in the UK, Prof Ferguson said: “The data is very encouraging and very much in line with what we expected.
“Whilst we’re seeing cases actually plateau at the moment – and they may start edging up – mortality, deaths and hospitalisations are still going down, and we expect them to continue to go down, maybe tick up a little bit next month but only within manageable levels, and so that puts us in a very good position to be keeping to the government roadmap – relaxing some restrictions in a couple of weeks’ time and then many more in June.”
