[Mr K]

Not following 'the science' any longer?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/202...sks-reopening/

. Disagreements between scientific advisors and the Government have been laid bare as it emerged that experts warned against the opening of non-essential shops, and schools.

A new tranche of papers released by the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (Sage) showed that scientists advised ministers that shops could push the R number above 1.

High-street retailers including fashion, homeware and toy shops have been given the green light to open from June 15, as long as they take precautions to ensure social distancing.

But a newly released document from the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M) group warns: “There is limited evidence on the effect of closing of non-essential retail, libraries, bars, restaurants, etc, but it is likely that R would return to above 1 and a subsequent exponential growth in cases.”

The estimate was based on a reproduction number of 0.6, but current Government estimates suggest the R rate is in fact now slightly higher, at between 0.7 and 0.9.

At a briefing on Friday, members of SPI-M also suggested that it was currently risky to ease lockdown when the number of infections in the community is still so high and suggested it was a political not scientific decision to lift some restrictions.

Figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this week suggests there are around 8,000 new infections each day in England and Wales.