Indian-origin academic leads criticism of UK's lockdown approach

A prominent Indianorigin Oxford University academic leads a group of over 30 academics who have expressed their doubts over the UK governments localised and national lockdown approach to tackling a second wave of the coronavirus pandemicProfessor Sunetra Gupta Professor of Theoretical Epidemiology at the University of Oxford coauthored a letter addressed to Prime Minister Boris Johnson Chancellor Rishi Sunak and the Chief Medical Officers CMOs of England Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland this week as a constructive input into the governments policy response to the rising number of coronavirus infectionsThe Guptaled group recommends more targeted measures that protect the groups most vulnerable to the deadly virusIn summary our view is that the existing policy path is inconsistent with the known riskprofile of COVID19 and should be reconsiderediquest notes the open letterInstead more targeted measures that protect the most vulnerable from COVID whilst not adversely impacting those not at risk are more supportableiquest Such targeted measures should be explored as a matter of urgency as the logical cornerstone of our future strategy the group saysThey argue that because 89 per cent of COVID19 deaths are in the over 65 group and are also concentrated in people with preexisting medical conditions these are the groups at which interventions should be targetedThis large variation in risk by age and health status suggests that the harm caused by uniform policies that apply to all persons will outweigh the benefits the letter reads warning that the effect on cancer treatment is especially acute with people delaying or missing screenings tests or treatmentsHowever Guptas team goes head to head with a contrary scientific point of view put forward in an open letter by Trisha Greenhalgh Chair of Primary Care Health Aciences at Oxford University signed by Edinburghbased Indianorigin academic Devi Sridhar Chair of Global Public Health Edinburgh Medical School among 23 other academicsWe strongly support your continuing efforts to suppress the virus across the entire population rather than adopt a policy of segmentation or shielding the vulnerable until herd immunity has developed reads the letter addressed to the CMOsSociety is an open system To cut a cohort of vulnerable people off from nonvulnerable or less vulnerable is likely to prove practically impossible especially for disadvantaged groupsiquest The goal of herd immunity rests on the unproven assumption that reinfection will not occur We simply do not know whether immunity will wane over months or years in those who have had COVID19 they writeTheir letter published in the British Medical Journal says that the UK may have to move flexibly between levels of restriction rather than either full lockdown or release depending on how well the virus is controlledThey also flag that measures that would help control the virus while also promoting economic recovery include making face coverings mandatory in crowded indoor spaces improving ventilation in schools and workplaces continuing to require social distancing and discouraging large indoor gatheringsThe face off within the scientific community comes as Johnson laid out a new set of restrictions to come in force from Thursday which once again requires people to work from home where possible and for hospitality businesses to bring down their shutters hours earlier in the eveningPlans for a further easing up for sporting and exhibition venues scheduled for next month have also been halted as part of the tougher measures to be enforced via fines between 100 pounds and 10000 pounds Johnson has told Parliament that the country should expect the restrictions to remain in place for around six monthsThe unstated objective currently appears to be one of suppression of the virus until such a time that a vaccine can be deployed This objective is increasingly unfeasible warns Prof Guptas group in their letterOn the other hand the group backed by Prof Sridhar notes Despite claims to the contrary from some quarters there are no examples of a segmentationandshielding policy having worked in any countryThe two sets of open letters indicate a growing split across the UK over tackling the second wave of the pandemic with rival camps divided between strict lockdowns and greater freedom on peoples movements and businessesIt comes as the R number or the rate at which the infection is transmitted remains above the preferred mark of one and the UKs death toll from the deadly virus edges towards 42000Catch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the 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