Face masks, working from home and vaccine passports could be set to return after the UK recorded its highest number of Covid deaths for almost seven months.
On Tuesday local time, the UK government said a further 223 people had died within 28 days of a positive test, bringing the UK total to 138,852.
A further 43,738 Covid-19 cases were recorded as of Tuesday as well.
Downing Street said it is keeping a "very close eye" on increasing case rates after a leading scientific advisor warned some Covid restrictions may need to be reimposed as the country records some of the highest rates of infection in the world.
Professor Neil Ferguson, one of the architects of Britain’s first lockdown in March 2020, put the surge of infections down to waning immunity after a successful early vaccine rollout.
Speaking to the BBC’s Radio 4 Programme, the scientist dubbed ‘Prof Lockdown’ said reliance on the AstraZeneca vaccine which protects well against the virus "protects slightly less well than Pfizer against infection and transmission, particularly in the face of the Delta variant".
"I don’t think we’re looking at another lockdown," Ferguson said.
"The worst case here are demands on the NHS...it’s very unlikely we’ll see anything like the levels of deaths we saw last year, for instance.
"Coming into the winter, there may be a Plan B which needs to be implemented, which involves some rolling back of measures, but I doubt that we’ll ever get close to lockdown."
His answer to waning immunity was for people over 50s to get their booster jabs. He also urged teenagers to get both doses rather than one.
"I don’t think it’s a reason to panic right now but I would certainly like to see vaccination booster doses accelerated, vaccination for teenagers accelerated."
An official spokesperson for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there were "no plans" to use contingency measures.
"There are a number of different factors that would play into that decision," they added.
"Largely, it would be required where there was a significant risk of the NHS being overwhelmed. We are not at that point."
SHARE ME