A new lockdown is expected if the NHS is swamped by the Delta variant of Covid-19, according to a top expert.
Saturday saw the JCVI confirm a third wave was “definitely” under way in England as cases tick up in some regions.
And it was followed by a dampening of hopes lockdown could end early on July 5 after a government review.
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Dr Susan Hopkins told BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show: “We may have to do further lockdowns this winter, I can’t predict the future, it depends on whether hospitals start to become overwhelmed.”
She added: “We are definitely seeing some signals in some areas of cases slowing down, Bolton for example has definitely reversed, Blackburn and Darwen has stabilised.”
Public Health Englands strategic response director, Dr Susan Hopkins, continued: “But there are other parts of the country, particularly in some parts of the north-east, some parts of London that are still rising quite fast.
“So I think this is not all doing the same thing all over the country, and we’re seeing rises and falls as people go out and get tested and I think we are seeing the impact of vaccination and that is good news.”
Dr Susan Hopkins – who has become a key figure at government press conferences – added: “The extra time to vaccinate more people, get two doses of vaccination in as many people as possible will hopefully mean that what we’re seeing with this wave won’t look the same as the previous waves that we’ve seen in this country.”
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It was followed by a dampening of hopes lockdown could end early on July 5 after a government review
