Risk of a third wave 'if we don't get the balance right' warns Raab
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The UK could experience a third wave of coronavirus infections after Christmas if restrictions are are eased too much over the coming weeks and months, Dominic Raab has warned.
Asked by BBC's Andrew Marr whether Britain may suffer a resurgence of cases in January and February, the Foreign Secretary said: "There's a risk of that if we don't get the balance right."
He added that the tiered approach and mass lockdown would be central to further suppress the pandemic before mass vaccination has taken place - a process he hopes will begin "before Christmas".
Mr Raab' comments come amid a growing Tory rebellion over the new tiered system.
In an attempt to appease MPs, the Prime Minister said last night he would allow the House of Commons to vote on the new tiers in late January, saying the regulations "have a sunset of 3 February" - a timeframe Mr Raab defended as "realistic".
Watch: Dominic Raab refuses to rule out third lockdown
But scientists and public health experts have consistently warned that "rates are still too high, there are too many people coming into hospital and too many people dying" to lift restrictions yet.
"We scientists are very concerned indeed about relaxation of precautions at this stage," Peter Openshaw, an immunologist from Imperial College who sits on Sage's nine-strong clinical information group, told the BBC.
"If we take the breaks off at this stage, just when the end is in sight, I think we'd be making a huge mistake... I think we must keep this under control and just behave very very sensibly," he said.
Aaron Spenedelow dressed as Santa Claus waves to the camera during a Zoom call with a family, as Santa's Grotto Live gets underway in Wembley, north London - NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP
Also works if daily growth negative (i.e. declining epidemic): 72/X gives approximate time before epidemic halves in size.
— Adam Kucharski (@AdamJKucharski) November 29, 2020
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau - LARS HAGBERG/AFP via Getty Images
Health workers hold a banner that reads 'You don't sell health, you defend it' as they take part in a protest held in defense of the Public Health system in Madrid, - Chema Moya/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
THREAD on new tiers & some perspective:
Lots of discussion over fairness of tier allocation and "balance" between economy and lives.
Let's remember where we were a few months ago...— Christina Pagel (@chrischirp) November 28, 2020
Customers sitting in their cars receiving goods at a drive-in Christmas market - Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
ndian Prime minister Narendra Modi as he visits the Zydus Biotech Park to review the progress and distribution of Covid-19 vaccine developed by Zydus Cadila - Indian Press Information Bureau,
A Penguin-loving Russian scientist is forced to spend another two bleak months at an Antarctic outpost after his replacement gets Covid - find more detail on this story at 10:29am - Den Muller/Instagram
3/ Or, actually, RNA is like snapchat messages that expire. RNA vaccines do NOT become a permanent part of your body. They are temporary messages instructing cells to make one viral protein temporarily. pic.twitter.com/XWqOWmtsD1
— Shane Crotty (@profshanecrotty) November 27, 2020
Asked if the government could switch to putting restrictions on small areas, Foreign Secretary @DominicRaab says "we always look at all things" but the government has to avoid the virus "shooting up" in small areas under looser restrictions.#Ridge https://t.co/Lyl4YX3atP pic.twitter.com/edU7sZyCX4
— Sophy Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) November 29, 2020
"If there's a central postcode hotspot the postcodes around that will be affected if you relax tiers adjacent. That's how the virus spread.
"So you do a ring lockdown around the hotspot by putting the whole region in tier 3. We are creating a firebreak around that hotspot."
A drone photo shows an aerial view of an empty Cyprus Martyrs Street and the surroundings after measures implemented to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in Izmir - Anadolu
"My doctor suspects I have transferred my Covid-19 antibodies to him during my pregnancy," Celine Ng-Chan told the paper.
Brazilian artist Mundano works on a graffiti called "Heroinas Invisiveis" (invisible heroines), a tribute to the women during the outbreak of the coronavirus at Heliopolis slum in Sao Paulo - Reuters
There are doubts over whether the event can still be staged in 2021 - Getty
A pedestrian wearing a protective mask and face shield walks past a Covid-19 banner outside the Seoul Metropolitan Library in Seoul - Bloomberg
