If Britain's strict lockdown is lifted at this critical stage, thousands of citizens will lose their lives to the coronavirus, the country's top surgeons have warned. The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) said enough health care staff are not getting tested due to shortage of testing kits and not enough PPE are available for frontline workers. Lifting the lockdown could be a dangerous decision during this time, they say.
The president of RCS, Professor Neil Mortensen, told the Daily Telegraph that the government cannot use health service as an economic punching bag just because the NHS has not been overwhelmed so far. A survey released by the RCS states that one-third of the surgeons do not have proper PPE. Besides, only 80 percent of staff members with evident COVID-19 disease symptoms gets tested for the virus.
One surgeon from the West Midlands said staff need proper testing and isolation. "It seems that patients are being tested but not staff. Asymptomatic carriers may indeed be the elephant in the room."
Prime Minister gathers Cabinet
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has convened a Cabinet meeting on Thursday to discuss an "exit-strategy" that gives hope that the lockdown will stay until June in Britain. Tonight will be his first appearance at a press briefing after resuming charge on Monday. He has delayed his paternity leave until later as the country is battling the coronavirus pandemic.
Robert Buckland, member of parliament, said the country must make sure that it doesn't do anything too soon that could lead to a second spike. "We're not suddenly going to move into a new phase - we need to be absolutely sure that the five tests that were set out some weeks ago are going to be met," he said.
Ministers have admitted that they missed the Health Secretary's coronavirus testing target. Buckland said the target is probably going to be missed and hoped it would be reached in a few days. On April 2, Matt Hancock pledged that 100,000 tests would be carried by the end of month.
