England's chief medical officer warns of risks as coronavirus lockdown being eased

«If you open up too fast, a lot more people die,» Whitty told a group of British lawmakers. «If we unlock too quickly we would get a substantial surge whilst a lot of people are not protected,» Xinhua reports.
According to the modelling data considered by British government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), at least a further 30,000 coronavirus deaths could occur in the coming months, even under the most optimistic set of assumptions.
«If people think this is all over -- I would encourage them to look to continental Europe...where a lot of countries are going back into rates going up and having to close things down again having not been in that situation before,» Whitty said.
In a further warning, Whitty said: «I think it's very easy to forget quite how quickly things can turn bad if you don't keep a very very close eye on it.»
«If you start shunting things forward you will get these higher peaks,» he said.
On Feb. 22, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his long-anticipated «roadmap» exiting the lockdown. The reopening of schools in England on Monday was the first part of the four-step plan, which Johnson said was designed to be «cautious but irreversible».
Under the guidance, two people are allowed for recreation in an outdoor public space such as a park, which means they would be allowed to sit down for a coffee, drink or picnic. England is expected to see all legal social restrictions being removed from June 21.
Another 4,712 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,223,232, according to official figures released Monday.
The country also reported another 65 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain stood at 124,566. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.
To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.