Mark Woolhouse: UK lockdown a monumental mistake

In an interview with Express health editor Lucy Johnston, Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease and member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours which advises the UK government’s pandemic response, said that the lockdown was a panic measure and has been a monumental mistake on a global scale. 

Woolhouse said that the cure was worse than the disease. He says that it was a temporary measure which was never meant to change anything fundamentally.
Woolhouse also says that waiting for a vaccine is not a “strategy” but a “hope”. He reiterates that the government must provide alternatives to lockdowns. By looking at the data and assessing who is actually at risk from the virus would allow better solutions to be presented. 

He adds that the UK should never return to lockdowns, and hopes that the country has learned how to handle the virus without lockdowns. He reiterates that as the society reopens, governments must make sure that the support needed by vulnerable populations are provided for. 

Editor’s Note: Woolhouse is not the first to say that countries should never utilize lockdowns to control the coronavirus [also read Norwegian health chief: The lockdown was not necessary to control COVID-19, Johan Giesecke: Why lockdowns are the wrong approach, Israel’s former health minister criticizes hysteria around COVID-19, Top WHO official warns Europe against return to national lockdowns]. Nevertheless, we are grateful to see members of the medical community awakening to the evidence, and we are hopeful for the return of critical thinking and empowered communities. 

If you wish to understand why we say that lockdowns do not work, read Science has spoken: End the lockdown and END THE LOCKDOWNS! Stop It Outside By Ending the Lockdowns Inside Us.