LONG HAUL
Long Covid may strike down 5,000 Brits a DAY by end of the summer, minister admits but he insists ‘we have to reopen’
THOUSANDS of Brits could be struck down with long Covid every day within the next six weeks, a minister has admitted.
Kwasi Kwarteng said it's "not beyond the imagination" that 5,000 people will suffer the condition daily as cases rocket to 100,000 by the end of summer.
🔵 Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest updates
5
5
But he insisted the UK must go ahead with stage four of Boris Johnson's roadmap to freedom - and said the Government has faith the jab will protect the public.
It comes as:
- Double-jabbed Brits can fly from amber list countries without quarantining from July 19
- Self-isolation after a Covid contact will also end for those who have had both vaccinations - but not until August
- The UK is 'running short on Pfizer' as some second jabs are delayed, it's reported
- A Wuhan virologist claims Covid originated in America and says 'white supremacists' are responsible for lab leak claims
- School bubbles will be scrapped when kids return to class in September
He gave an interview on Sky a day after new Health Secretary Sajid Javid warned cases will soar over the summer.
And asked if thousands will be infected with long Covid daily, he replied: "It's not beyond the imagination, but I think it's getting ahead of where we are."
And he said it's time for the national shutdown to lift as Brits learn how to live with coronavirus.
"We can't simply lockdown society forever - we have to reopen," he said.
"If we don't reopen fully on July 19, the implications of that would be simply just to delay all of this until perhaps September or the winter, when things would become more difficult.
"So, it's a balancing act. We have to decide what to do and I think this is the best course of action."
5
But scientists have warned the condition could place huge strain on the country.
And yesterday, Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty warned of the dangers of long Covid in an address to the Local Government Association.
He said: “Since there’s a lot of Covid at the moment and the rates are going up, I regret to say I think we will get a significant amount more long Covid, particularly in the younger ages where the vaccination rates are currently much lower.
"Fundamentally, the two ways to prevent long Covid in my view are to keep Covid rates right down and make sure everyone is vaccinated so they get very mild disease, and I think we really just need to push hell for leather for those two.
"The deaths from Covid I think are mercifully going to be much lower in this wave compared to the previous ones as a proportion of cases but long Covid remains, I think, a worry.
5
5
"We don’t know how big an issue it’s going to be but I think we should assume it’s not going to be trivial.”
The Government hasn't yet released any projections on long Covid - although scientific adviser Stephen Reicher suggested 40 per cent of all those infected, and 30 per cent of young people infected, suffer a prolonged illness.
Mr Javid yesterday told the BBC: “By the time we get to July 19, we would expect cases numbers by then to be at least double what they are now, so around 50,000 new cases a day.
"As we ease and go into the summer, we expect them to rise significantly.
"It could go as high as 100,000 case numbers.”
However, he reassured Brits that jabs have "severely weakened" the chances infected people will become seriously ill or die.
Despite fears over rising cases, Boris Johnson this week announced almost all restrictions will vanish this month.
Most read in Health News
But he too warned of 50,000 new daily cases within weeks - and warned: "We must reconcile ourselves, sadly, to more deaths from Covid."
READ MORE SUN STORIES
UK Covid daily cases are the highest they've been since January, with 28,773 more infections reported yesterday.
And 37 more Covid deaths were recorded over the same timeframe.
Covid cases could hit 100,00 a DAY by the end of summer due to new variant, Sajid Javid warns
Topics