‘Hard months to come’ warns England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer 

England’s deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has expressed concerns that “too many people believe that this pandemic is now over,” despite ongoing risks.

The professor told BBC One’s Breakfast programme today: “I personally feel there are some hard months to come in the winter and it’s not over.

He implied the government’s plans would determine the situation, saying: “I think a whole range of behaviours, including the use of face coverings, but generally the caution that people take or don’t take in terms of interacting with each other – that is going to be a big determinant in what happens between now and the kind of darkest months are the winter.”

He advised caution and added that Christmas and winter in general “are potentially going to be problematic” for the spread of Covid, but said that he thought “we’ll be in a much calmer set of waters by spring.”