British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has rejected calls from a group of scientists to do away with lockdown restrictions, with Downing Street pouring scorn on the idea that it is possible to protect the most vulnerable from COVID-19.
The controversial Great Barrington Declaration, signed by more than 7,000 scientists and medics worldwide, urged a new strategy which would allow younger people to live their lives as normal and offer “focused protection” to the elderly and people with underlying health conditions.
Alongside scientists like Professor Karol Sikora, it has been backed by prominent MPs like Tory backbencher Steve Baker, who has urged colleagues to back the proposal – in direct opposition to the government’s strategy.
But the Prime Minister’s official spokesman made it clear yesterday that Johnson disagreed with the fundamental logic of the declaration.
“We have considered the full range of scientific opinion throughout the course of this pandemic and we will continue to do so,” a Number 10 spokesman said.
“But what I would also say is that it is not possible to rely on an unproven assumption that it is possible for people who are at lower risk, should they contract the virus, to avoid subsequently transmitting it to those who are at a higher risk and would face a higher risks of ending up in hospital, or worse in an intensive care unit.”
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