BBC News
By Hazel Shearing
image copyrightReuters
image captionPubs and other hospitality venues in England will be able to seat customers indoors from 17 May if the government meets its Covid targets
It is unlikely that there will be more lockdowns in the UK, the scientist whose modelling led to the first nationwide restrictions has said.
Prof Neil Ferguson told the BBC the UK is likely to be on a steady course now out of this pandemic .
However, he said there could be a roll back of some freedoms if any new variants proved resistant to vaccines.
Ministers have said further lockdown easing will go ahead in England if the data supports it.
BBC News
Croydon University Hospital doctor: Covid not fake news
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Many hospitals are still under intense pressure with the increasing number of Covid patients arriving.
Doctors say they are seeing more younger patients in their thirties and forties compared to the first wave.
The overall pattern of those at risk of becoming seriously ill or dying has not changed significantly and the older someone is, the greater their risk from Covid-19 - particularly those over the age of 65.
The BBC s Health Editor Hugh Pym was given access to film at Croydon University Hospital in South London.
Camera: Harriet Bradshaw. Producer: Dominic Hurst. Edit: Jasper Capper
Reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic
From working as Pudsey Bear, reporting on fat dogs, and filming a documentary on orangutans, to telling the story of a global pandemic, Harriet Bradshaw’s journalism career has been eventful.
Harriet (Archaeology and Anthropology 2005) has worked in local radio and regional television in Jersey and Devon, and, since March, has worked alongside BBC Health Editor Hugh Pym on the COVID-19 pandemic.
She says: “When I was asked if I wanted to be paired with Hugh Pym on the coronavirus story – they said ‘we think it might be a big deal’ – I told them, you know how tall I am?
Amid reports that the city is
highly likely to move to Tier 3 this week, operators across the capital face the prospect of having to close their doors again; just two weeks after being allowed to reopen following the month-long national lockdown in England.
Des Gunewardena, CEO and co-founder of high-end restaurant group D&D London, says he hopes the move will not happen, but if it does has demanded the Government fully compensate businesses for their loss of earnings in what would usually be one of the busiest weeks of the year. In the context of the complete lack of evidence that there are significant Covid infections happening in restaurants, to close restaurants and cancel bookings in what is normally THE busiest week of the year would feel like an almost gratuitous kick in the teeth to London restaurants, he says.