Boris Johnson warned COVID-19 outbreak to 'revert back to March' levels once school open

BORIS JOHNSON has been warned the lack of a viable track and track system could worsen the impact of a second coronavirus wave, with virologist Prof George Lomonossoff warning school reopening could contribute to worsening the crisis.

Schools reopening: Expert warns virus could ‘get out of control’

has been warned the UK needs a functional test and trace system in order to better contain the risks of a second wave of the pandemic. Virologist Prof George Lomonossoff warned the Prime Minister could face March-levels of infections unless the necessary precautions are adopted. Speaking to talkRADIO, Prof Lomonossoff said: "Getting people back to school, where there is a lot of interaction – which is great if you are at school...the problem is not just the children or the adults working there, it's people going home afterwards. 

"The danger of spreading the thing. It's going to be a question of if you can actually respond quickly enough.

"The risk is there, as long as you can do something about it, it's manageable. I think the real fear is the virus getting out of control again.

"And then you'll begin to see everything having to reverse back to, I hope it doesn't go that far, March this year.

"That's the real concern, you wouldn't just be able to keep going if a large proportion of the population get ill."

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Boris Johnson has been warned the UK needs a strong track and trace system (Image: BBC)

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Boris Johnson could be left coping with COVID cases going back to March levels (Image: BBC)

The Prime Minister has pledged to send pupils back to school in September after the outbreak forced classes to be suspended for months.

But concerns of the impact the reopening of schools could have on the rate of infection were reignited as the number of coronavirus cases began to surge across some regions of the UK.

Greater Manchester, east Lancashire and west Yorkshire have been placed under check after the number of new COVID-19 infections rose following the further relaxation of social distancing measures.

And a new modelling study suggested a second wave of the pandemic could end up being twice as big as the first unless a suitable track and trace system is in place. 

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Boris Johnson has pledged to have schools reopen in September (Image: GETTY)

A study published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health reviewed the possible implications schools reopening could have on the wider British society.

Researchers from UCL and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) noted that "with increased levels of testing... and effective contact tracing and isolation, an epidemic rebound might be prevented."

But the authors found the worst-case scenario would see the UK suffer through a new wave 2.3 times higher than the first.

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Coronavirus cases have increased over the past few weeks (Image: EXPRESS.CO.UK)

Prof Chris Bonnell, who contributed to the research, said: "Our findings suggests that it might be possible [to avoid] a secondary epidemic wave in the UK, if enough people with symptomatic infection can be diagnosed and their contacts traced and effectively isolated," he said.

"Reopening schools fully in September, alongside reopening workplaces in society, without an effective test, trace, isolating (TTI) strategy could result in a second wave of infections between two and 2.3 times the size of the original wave.

"This is a scenario with model, not a prediction of what is going to happen. It all depends on the other measures and the level of TTI coverage.

"Currently, TTI is not achieving the levels that we modelled. Looking at the NHS reports from the TTI system, it looks like it's about 50% coverage."

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