Things were tense on Good Morning Britain Monday morning, as host Richard Madeley and Dr Hilary Jones clashed over impending Freedom Day and new Covid data.
The duo were discussing the fact that Freedom Day on July 19 could potentially be going ahead, which will see all current restrictions completely lifted.
This would mean clubs would open, mask-wearing would no longer be compulsory and the general public won’t have to continue social distancing.
Dr Hilary suggested that we all need to be taking the rising cases more seriously.
Richard showed that he wasn’t having it, as he regularly debated Dr Hilary’s statements.
‘Look in Australia they have a fraction of the cases we have and half the country’s in lockdown, here we think that banding all restrictions when we have cases going up, 74 per cent in a week and 55 per cent hospitalisions in a week,’ Dr Hilary explained.
Richard Madeley and Dr Hilary Jones clash on Good Morning Britain (Picture: ITV)
Richard was quick to cut him off: ‘But we have the vaccine and Australia hasn’t.’
Dr Hilary responded: ‘You’re absolutely right, we do have the vaccine but what people forget is vaccination doesn’t give you 100 per cent protection. 10 per cent of people who have double jabs are still likely to get the virus and are still vulnerable.’
The cohost of the morning news programme said Dr Hilary was being ‘misleading’.
‘You’re using percentages to make the case here, but that’s a bit misleading because yes, the percentage rise in hospitalisations has gone up, I think 20 per cent, that sounds a lot but in real numbers, it is starting from a very low level,’ he said.
‘But it’s increasing,’ Dr Hilary quipped.
Dr Hilary Jones didn’t back down (Picture: ITV)
Richard responded: ‘But it would, wouldn’t it?’
Dr Hilary proved that he wasn’t going to step down on the information he was sharing, as he went on to explain the possibility of even more variants of the disease in the future.
‘We have millions of people who still haven’t been vaccinated, we have a variant that’s more transmissible and as some experts have said, the more cases you have, it is a factory to develop new variants,’ he said.
‘Now what if we get a new variant that comes along and it’s resistant to the vaccines we currently use, the whole thing is out the window.’
Richard countered: ‘What are you saying? Are you saying we shouldn’t have freedom day on the 19th and that we should carry on as we are?’
Dr Hilary said that ‘we’ve already got a lot of freedom’ and that people should use their common sense.
‘I’m saying that people need to exercise restraint and if you’re going somewhere with poor ventilation, a crowded space, I think you’ve really got to be careful,’ he said.
He added that he thinks people should still be wearing face masks.
Prime minister Boris Johnson is to set out the details of the final stage of the country’s journey out of lockdown later today.
He is expected to announce the steps on social distancing, face coverings, and working from home.
Good Morning Britain airs 6am weekdays on ITV.
Credit: Original article published here.You can read this post on My Celebrity Life.