LONDON - Top medics have warned British
political parties that local flare-ups of the novel coronavirus
are likely and a second wave is a real risk.
"While the future shape of the pandemic in the UK is hard to
predict, the available evidence indicates that local flare-ups
are increasingly likely and a second wave a real risk," the
medics said in a open letter to British political leaders.
Those who signed the open letter in the British Medical
Journal included Derek Alderson, president of the Royal College
of Surgeons, Andrew Goddard, president of the Royal College of
Physicians and Katherine Henderson, president of the Royal
College of Emergency Medicine.
"Many elements of the infrastructure needed to contain the
virus are beginning to be put in place, but substantial
challenges remain," they said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that pubs,
restaurants and hotels could reopen in England early next month,
easing the coronavirus lockdown that has all but shut the
economy.
The United Kingdom has one of the world's worst official
death tolls from the novel coronavirus, though the lockdown has
tipped the United Kingdom towards the deepest economic
contraction in three centuries.
The medics called for a review of what needs to be done to
prevent a second wave of COVID-19 cases.
"It should focus on those areas of weakness where action is
needed urgently to prevent further loss of life and restore the
economy as fully and as quickly as possible," the medics said.
Others who signed the open letter included Anne Marie
Rafferty, president of Royal College of Nursing, Maggie Rae,
president of the Faculty of Public Health, and Richard Horton,
editor in chief of the Lancet.