Sheffield health boss raises fears over easing of lockdown measures

Greg Fell, the Director of Public Health in Sheffield, said: “We are at a critical moment.”

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In a tweet he added: “We need to weigh up the balance of risks between easing restrictions, to enable more pupils to return to school, more businesses to open and more social connections to happen, with the risk of causing a resurgence of infections.”

In a second tweet, referring to vulnerable people shielding from Covid-19 now being allowed to leave home, he said: “This does not look like gently lifting the lid – and from what I have seen these past three days, I fear that our desire to socialise means that the critical nature of our situation is being forgotten.”

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Directors of public health have warned they are ‘increasingly concerned’ the Government is making the wrong judgment by easing lockdown restrictions too quickly.

The Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) said new rules, including allowing groups of up to six people to meet outdoors and in private gardens, were ‘not supported by the science’.

It said pictures of crowded beaches and beauty spots over the weekend showed ‘the public is not keeping to social distancing as it was’ and the NHS test and trace programme ‘is currently far from being the robust operation that is now urgently required as a safeguard to easing restrictions’.

The organisation said: “Over the weekend we have seen signs that the public is no longer keeping as strictly to social distancing as it was.

“Along with this, we are concerned that the resolve on personal hygiene measures, and the need to immediately self-isolate, if symptomatic, is waning.

“A relentless effort to regain and rebuild public confidence and trust following recent events is essential.”

The ADPH said a second peak cannot be ruled out, and asked: “Do we really want the same number of deaths again?

“The scale to date represents an unimaginable tragedy and we must do everything possible to limit further loss of life.”