Good Morning Britain health expert Dr Hilary Jones has revealed he supports a second national lockdown.
The 67-year-old GP called for more “draconian” measures to crack down on the spread of coronavirus during Thursday’s edition of the ITV breakfast show.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing pressures to put in place stricter lockdown rules across the country as the Covid-19 cases continue to soar.
Figures show that 310 people died from coronavirus yesterday, while a further 24,701 cases were confirmed.
Discussing the latest statistics, host Charlotte Hawkins said: “It’s not good news, stark warnings from scientists that up to 100,000 people a day are catching it.
Good Morning Britain health expert Dr Hilary Jones has revealed he supports a second national lockdown
“This worst case scenario, up to 85,000 could die in the second wave, it could be more deadly than the first.”
Presenter Ben Shephard asked: “Do you think it’s only a matter of time before we go into another full national lockdown?”
Dr Hilary replied: “I’m afraid I do because we’re not adequately and quickly enough controlling the number of cases, they’re still rising.
“So yes we’ve put some places into tier three, and the situation would have been worse if we hadn’t done that.
Boris Johnson is facing pressures to put in place stricter lockdown rules across the country as the Covid-19 cases continue to soar (Image: PA)
“People are saying, well it hasn’t made any difference, it would be worse if we hadn’t done that.”
He continued: “Other areas, we’ve still got fairly lax regulations that allow six people from different households to get together.
“That was never going to be, in my opinion, a very sensible way forward.
“And unless we stop different households getting together, the R-rate is going to increase and the situation’s going to get worse.”
Ben Shephard and Charlotte Hawkins were on presenting duty on Thursday
“Yes, we have to be more draconian and I’m sure people will understand in order to get control of the virus, this is what has to be done.”
Criticising the government’s claims to have a vaccine up and running soon and increased testing, Dr Hilary said: “The trouble is this government has been guilty of over promising.
“Who’s going to be doing all these tests? We’re talking about millions of tests all the time.
“I think to over promise it when it’s not already there is a mistake.”
Charlotte read out a plan from Boris Johnson’s Operation Moonshot to test 10,000 people every week for the virus, using a 30-minute saliva kit.
But Hilary told her: “If it was logistically possible it would make a massive difference.
“But this government has been guilty of overpromising throughout the year.”
Good Morning Britain continues weekdays at 6am on ITV
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