By Ben Kerrigan-
Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, has been warned to be careful not to fall into the trap of fear mongering, as the UK enters the winter period.
The new Health Secretary who vowed never to return to lockdowns following his appointment this year, appears to be joining those throwing numbers around which could easily be seen as fear mongering.
Javid today warned that the UK could see 100,000 coronavirus cases a day this winter.
Speculation has been a cancer of the pandemic, especially after professor Neil Ferguson’s wild predictions which he got terribly wrong.
Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, the health secretary added that Covid-19 restrictions could be reintroduced if people failed to do their “bit”.
As part of the government’s bid to encourage the public to take individual responsibility, he advised people to have their booster shots, take regular lateral flow tests and socialise outdoors where possible, to avoid the UK “could losing its progress against the virus, he said.
The Health Secretary’s comments come as almost 50,000 new coronavirus cases were reported in the UK on Wednesday, a day after the country saw its highest daily death toll since March.
An increase in cases of coronavirus is not good news, but the real issues that concern people are the death rates, and the British public have long been sceptical of the official statistics of death rates arising from Covid-19.
Caution remains important, but ringing bells of doom early is always a problem for the average Joe blogg in the Uk, who asks why the bells are ringing loud again.
Sajid rejected calls from NHS leaders for the government to introduce mandatory face masks and other measures under “plan B”, Mr Javid said the pressure currently facing the NHS was not “unsustainable”.
However, Dr Jenny Harries, the chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, told reporters in Downing Street that it was “really important” for the vaccinated to wear masks, a position in line with “plan B”.
She added that the country was “kicking off the winter” with very high coronavirus case rates and that the daily death toll was “moving in the wrong direction”.
The idea of the vaccinated wearing masks contradicts the very essence of vaccination for most members of the public. and there are already fears in some circles that the tactic of fear mongering may be rearing its ugly head again.