Daily US Times: To stop intensive care units being overwhelmed, social distancing would be needed for “at least half of the year”, according to official scientific advice.
The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) recommended alternating between more and less strict measures for most of a year to contain the coronavirus outbreak as it has the risk to surface further.
Less restrictive measures include isolating cases and households, while strict measures include school closures and social distancing for everyone.
On Thursday, the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the country could “turn the tide” on the coronavirus outbreak within 12 weeks. The Sage advice came after it.
Schools in England, Scotland and Wales will be closed until further notice – except for vulnerable children and those with a parent identified as a key worker.
In England, more than 65,000 doctors and nurses are asked to return to work to combat the coronavirus outbreak.
And the chancellor is set to announce a wage subsidy package to try to protect millions of jobs.
Sage’s documents suggests alternating measures could “plausibly be effective at keeping the number of critical care cases within capacity”.
Less strict measures would also include social distancing, but that will only be applicable for vulnerable groups.
There would be a delay of two to three weeks between measures being put into place and their impact being felt in intensive care.
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