Government plan to end restrictions is a ‘dangerous and unethical experiment’, experts say

More than 100 scientists and doctors have signed a letter accusing the UK government of conducting a “dangerous and unethical experiment”. And they’re urging the government to reconsider its plans to abandon all coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions.

Any strategy that “tolerates high levels of infection is both unethical and illogical”, according to the 122 signatories. They include former chief scientific adviser and Independent Sage chair David King and British Medical Association council chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul.

‘A generation left with chronic health problems and disability’

The letter was published in the Lancet, one of the world’s leading medical journals. It comes after the government announced that coronavirus restrictions are due to be eased in England from 19 July.

They warned that an exponential growth of the virus “will likely continue until millions more are infected, leaving hundreds of thousands with long-term illness and disability”.

It continued:

This strategy risks creating a generation left with chronic health problems and disability, the personal and economic impacts of which might be felt for decades to come.

They also stressed there was a risk of long Covid to the wider population. This is especially the case for those who were vulnerable, younger people and children, and people who were unvaccinated.

‘Nonsensical and dangerous’

Dr Nagpaul said the numbers of coronavirus cases in the UK were soaring. And while the link between hospitalisations and deaths had weakened, it had not been broken. He added:

The Government has also airbrushed the impact of long Covid on one in 10 people getting infected and with two million having been unwell for more than three months. It would be irresponsible to inflict further suffering on millions more…

We know that masks are effective in stopping the spread, so it is nonsensical and dangerous for the Government to abandon compulsory mask-wearing in indoor public settings, such as public transport, on July 19.

Continuing targeted measures against the virus was “vital” to prevent its spread until enough of the population was fully vaccinated, he added.

Oxford University professor Trisha Greenhalgh described the letter as “a plea to our political leaders” to listen to scientists. And she claimed the world turned “its incredulous eyes on the UK Government as it announced plans to abandon all mandated measures to try to control spread of the virus”.

‘A deliberate choice to expose children to mass infection’

Dr Deepti Gurdasani, an epidemiologist and senior lecturer at Queen Mary University who organised the letter, said:

The Government has made a deliberate choice to expose children to mass infection, rather than protect them in schools or vaccinate them.

This is unethical and unacceptable. Our young have already suffered so much in the past year, and are now being condemned to suffer the consequences of this dangerous experiment.

The letter also suggested that lifting of restrictions could make the disruption of children’s education more likely, not less.

It stated:

Allowing transmission to continue over the summer will create a reservoir of infection, which will probably accelerate spread when schools and universities reopen in autumn.

The letter called on the government to reconsider “its current strategy and take urgent steps to protect the public, including children”.

It said:

We believe the Government is embarking on a dangerous and unethical experiment, and we call on it to pause plans to abandon mitigations on July 19, 2021.

Instead, the Government should delay complete reopening until everyone, including adolescents, have been offered vaccination and uptake is high, and until mitigation measures, especially adequate ventilation (through investment in carbon dioxide monitors and air filtration devices) and spacing (eg by reducing class sizes), are in place in schools.

‘An entirely unnecessary and self-inflicted hazard’

A Department of Health & Social Care spokesperson said:

The success of the vaccine rollout is saving lives, having severely weakened the link between cases and hospitalisations.

We have taken a cautious approach to proceeding with the roadmap, delaying Step 4 to allow for millions more vaccinations so every person most at risk is fully protected.

Our approach after step 4 balances the need to protect both lives and livelihoods and we will only proceed on 19 July with our four tests having been met.

Meanwhile Dr Richard Horton, the Lancet‘s editor-in-chief, said there’s “no scientific consensus” over the government’s plans “to remove protective mandates on July 19”. And he said the nation was “at a very dangerous moment in the pandemic”.

He added:

The Government plan is not, as some have characterised it, a reasonable gamble – it is an entirely unnecessary and self-inflicted hazard that will cause real harm to health.