Covid-19 spreading too fast to lift UK lockdown – Sage adviser

Scientist says 8,000 daily infections in England makes relaxing restrictions too risky

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Government advisers have voiced unease over the decision to lift the lockdown while there are still thousands of people becoming infected with the coronavirus every day, warning that loosening restrictions could easily lead to a second wave.

We cannot relax our guard by very much at all," said John Edmunds, professor of infectious disease modelling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and one of the members of the modelling sub-group of Sage (the scientific advisory group on epidemics).