The coronavirus or COVID-19 is claiming the lives of 10,000 more people a month than normal and Christmas can only make things much worse, an expert of the government has warned. Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, who is from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies told BBC Radio 4's program that while the infections were going down following the second lockdown they were currently going back up, as per reports.
He stated that coronavirus cases had increased after lockdown and warned the people of the UK their behavior can make things worse. "(There are) 350, 400 deaths a day in the UK - that's about 10,000 a month. And these are real deaths. These are extra deaths that would not have happened normally. They are from Covid, they are not just with Covid," he said as reported by the Mirror.
COVID-19 in UK
Relaxing the current restrictions during the festive period may make the situation worse as the virus spreads, he mentioned. The professor stated that he was sure people wanted a downward trend ahead of Christmas for producing a kind of buffer before Christmas as there is bound to be some effect. "Now, I wouldn't want to say what the size of that effect is going to be because it depends crucially on people's behavior. And, how much they obey the rules and are sensible," he added.
Three households are going to be able to bubble together between December 23 and 27 as per a festive relaxation of the coronavirus rules. The rules also give permission to families to travel all over the UK during the period regardless of the tier they live in. Spiegelhalter told Today that the relaxed rules around travel are going to have an impact on the coronavirus cases.
"This could be just a blip, and it might not be that big, I wouldn't want to say. I think we need to look beyond that towards the whole winter, I think. We can't make this disappear and we can't let it get out of control. And, it won't get out of control... that won't be allowed to happen. So, it's keeping a lid on it," Spiegelhalter informed BBC.
