Current Events > England lifting COVID restrictions is threat to world, say 1,200 scientists

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/16/englands-covid-unlocking-a-threat-to-the-world-experts-say

Boris Johnsons plan to lift virtually all of Englands pandemic restrictions on Monday is a threat to the world and provides fertile ground for the emergence of vaccine-resistant variants, international experts say. Britains position as a global transport hub would mean any new variant here would rapidly spread around the world, scientists and physicians warned at an emergency summit. They also expressed grave concerns about Downing Streets plans. Government advisers in New Zealand, Israel and Italy were among those who sounded alarm bells about the policy, while more than 1,200 scientists backed a letter to the Lancet journal warning the strategy could allow vaccine-resistant variants to develop. An adviser to New Zealands government told the summit he and his colleagues were astounded at the approach being taken in England. In New Zealand we have always looked to the UK for leadership when it comes to scientific expertise, which is why its so remarkable that it is not following even basic public health principles, said Michael Baker, a professor of public health at the University of Otago and a member of the New Zealand ministry of healths Covid-19 technical advisory group.

Also participating was Prof Jos Martin-Moreno of the University of Valencia, a senior adviser to the World Health Organization (WHO), who said: We cannot understand why this is happening in spite of the scientific knowledge that you have. Others warned the British governments approach would be imitated, for political expediency, by authorities elsewhere. What I fear is that that the some of the worst impulses in many of our states will follow the UK example, said Dr William Haseltine, a former Harvard Medical School researcher and a pioneering Aids researcher who chairs Access Health International, a New York-based thinktank. I am extremely dismayed to see the very rapid rate of increasing infections in a population that is vaccinated pretty much like we are. Prof Christina Pagel, the director of University College Londons clinical operational research unit, told the meeting: Because of our position as a global travel hub, any variant that becomes dominant in the UK will likely spread to the rest of the globe. The UK policy doesnt just affect us. It affects everybody and everybody has a stake in what we do. The letter to the Lancet said: We believe the government is embarking on a dangerous and unethical experiment, and we call on it to pause plans to abandon mitigations on July 19, 2021.

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1,200 scientists? Who cares. What does twitter have to say?

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Lost_All_Senses posted...

1,200 scientists? Who cares. What does twitter have to say?

I just found it interesting this argument wasnt made for the US which has way more people but England will lead to end of the world.

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It's cute that you think anyone in England gives a shit about the rest of the world

Most people here would sacrifice every woman in Asia if it saved their pet cat.

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this civilization will collapse due to climate change before it gets this virus under control

All international travel, all of it, should have been put to a full stop when covid started.

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UnfairRepresent posted...

It's cute that you think anyone in England gives a shit about the rest of the world

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