Another pandemic inevitable, virologist warns

Five years after the first coronavirus lockdown in the UK, a virus expert has warned the UK will almost certainly see another pandemic at some point in the future.

Prof Lawrence Young, a virologist, said coronavirus was under control at the moment but "we've just got to keep an eye on it".

He also said he believed the pandemic had shaken the world out of complacency and shown the value of advancing medical technology, lateral flow tests and a joined up approach to infectious diseases.

But he worried that, with the financial pressures on the NHS, "we're somehow losing the momentum around public health".

Since the peak of the pandemic, new variants of Covid have emerged.

Prof Young, who lives in Worcestershire, said the number of coronavirus hospitalisations had been "fortunately quite low" this winter.

He said there was a growing hope that it would settle down to become a seasonal winter virus.

But he warned: "It's still lurking and we need to be aware it could cause a new wave if we're not careful."

For those more likely to become seriously ill from Covid, the NHS offers a free booster shot.

Vaccines have been updated to better match recent variants.

Prof Young, who retired in 2024 from the University of Warwick, said coronavirus could still be very dangerous to elderly or vulnerable people and vaccines remained important.

Climate change and the availability of international travel and mixing made it easier for viruses to spread, he said, adding "we will be inevitably faced with pandemics in the future".

The Covid inquiry has been holding hearings since 2023, taking evidence from politicians, civil servants and health experts about the roll-out of vaccines and anti-viral treatment across the UK.

In July 2024, the inquiry's first report said the UK's flawed pandemic preparations had led to more deaths and greater economic damage than there should have been.

Looking back at what lessons he felt have been learned since the first lockdown was announced in 2020, Prof Young said he believed the world had seen the value of monitoring, testing, tracing and isolating.

He also said: "I think this whole pandemic has highlighted the importance of individual responsibility in preventing the spread of infection and protecting the most vulnerable."

That included measures such as the wearing of face masks, which he noted was "commonplace in the Far East".

He also believed the pandemic was important because it had "shaken us out of the complacent view that we needn't be concerned about the dangerous of infectious disease".

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