Politico's Playbook is told by a government insider that the advice of their SAGE scientists has “crystallized” over the past few days in favour of new measures before the end of the year. “Pretty much every” government scientist now thinks that without further action the NHS could be hit by massive numbers of hospitalizations leading to a very significant death toll, the source said. Minutes of SAGE’s last meeting on Thursday warned “more stringent measures would need to be implemented very soon” to prevent hospitalizations reaching thousands per day. It said a ban on indoor social contact and hospitality could reduce hospitalizations, but stated: “Delaying until 2022 would greatly reduce the effectiveness of such interventions and make it less likely that these would prevent considerable pressure on health and care settings.” The BBC’s Jim Reed got the scoop. In a Cabinet call on Saturday, Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance told ministers new measures were needed.
Playbook is told the government’s scientists are pushing for option two, and that this will be the principal decision Johnson has to make this week. On Saturday, the Times’ Patrick Maguire and Chris Smyth reported this would mean indoor mixing banned except for work, the rule of six outdoors, schools and shops remaining open, and shielding for the vulnerable. A government insider confirms to Playbook that this is the sort of approach being considered.
~ Boris could score some much-needed brownie points with the general public if he ignores these calls from "experts" - I for one hope he does.
