Evidence of a split between Boris Johnson and his most senior scientific and medical advisers was laid bare within hours of his announcement of measures to ease the lockdown.
Speaking at the final daily Downing Street coronavirus news conference, Sir Patrick Vallance and Professor Chris Whitty warned of potential risks in axing the two-metre social distancing rule.
Sir Patrick, the government's chief scientific adviser, said the prime minister's approach to easing the lockdown was "reasonable", although there were risks attached.
"It is not risk free," he said.
"It cannot be risk free. Every time you take a step to open up there is some associated risk with that."
Professor Whitty, England's chief medical officer, said the package of measures to ease the lockdown was a "reasonable balance of risk", but "absolutely not risk free".
"We may at some point say that a particular bit of the decisions that were taken is too much of a risk with the benefit of hindsight and we have to go back on it," he warned.
Defending the government's decision to re-open pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and other businesses, the prime minister said he took responsibility for the decision to ease the lockdown.
"Of course, I take responsibility, the government takes responsibility for these decisions," he said. "We are indebted to our scientific colleagues for their advice continually, but it is our responsibility to choose."
But Mr Johnson admitted he was aware that Professor Whitty had concerns about the lockdown being lifted for pubs, bars and restaurants.
"As for July 4, I hope it will be a great day," said Mr Johnson.
"But obviously, you know, people have got to make sure they don't overdo it.
"I know Chris is particularly worried about this - we can't have great writhing scenes in the beer gardens when the virus could be passed on.
"This has to be done in a sensible way - people should be giving their names to the pubs, to the restaurants, doing things in a way that allows us, if something does happen, to track back, to test and trace and stamp out any outbreak.
"That's the absolutely crucial thing. People should of course enjoy themselves but as Chris and Patrick have said, this is going to be with us for a while.
"We've just got to adjust and make it work."
The warnings from the two scientific chiefs suggest they are determined to distance themselves from any moves by the government on easing the lockdown that they regard as premature or reckless.
In recent weeks there has been apparent tension between senior ministers and advisers, with the scientists adopting a much more cautious and guarded tone at Downing Street news conferences.
And on occasions the absence of top advisers alongside ministers at some No 10 briefings has led to claims that ministers feared being contradicted by scientists in full view of the TV cameras.
There have also been allegations from some in the scientific and medical communities that ministers have been too impatient in easing lockdown measures and have put fears over the economy above saving lives.
At his final No 10 appearance - for now - Sir Patrick said although the epidemic continued to shrink - "albeit slowly" - by between 2% and 4% a day, the numbers were "flattening off" rather than going down to zero.
And he warned: "Don't be fooled that this means it has gone away. The disease is growing across the world. It is coming down in the UK but it hasn't gone away."
He said: "You need to be prepared where there is local outbreaks to deal with them locally and if they become beyond local then you need to deal with them at regional and national levels which would mean reversal of some of the measures.
"That is the only way you can keep on top of this."
Professor Whitty said there was a risk coronavirus could start to increase in its spread if restrictions involved with the new "one metre-plus" rules were not followed.
"A lot of the changes are about emphasising things that we can do and it is really critical that individuals and firms take these really seriously," he said. "Because if we don't take them seriously then chains of transmission between households will be re-established."
He added: "To be really clear, it is absolutely critical that every individual, every household and every firm takes these precautions seriously. If that does not happen, we will go back to a situation where transmission starts to rise again.
"If people hear a distorted version of what's being said, that says 'this is all fine now, it's gone away' and start behaving in ways that they normally would have before this virus happened, yes, we will get an uptick for sure.
"It is absolutely critical people stick to the guidance that has been given - it's a changed guidance for there are still very significant restrictions socially and there are very significant restrictions on business of different sorts."
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On fears of an upturn in COVID-19, Professor Whitty said: "You need to be prepared where there is local outbreaks to deal with them locally and if they become beyond local then you need to deal with them at regional and national levels which would mean reversal of some of the measures.
"That is the only way you can keep on top of this."
He also predicted that the country could have to cope with the virus into 2021.
"I would be surprised and delighted if we weren't in this current situation through the winter and into next spring," he said.
"I think then let's regroup and work out where we are.
"I expect there to be a significant amount of coronavirus circulating at least into that time and I think it is going to be quite optimistic that for science to come fully to the rescue over that kind of timeframe.
"But I have an absolute confidence in the capacity of science to overcome infectious diseases - it has done that repeatedly and it will do that for this virus, whether that is by drugs, vaccines or indeed other things that may come into play.
"For medium to long term, I'm optimistic. But for the short to medium term, until this time next year, certainly I think we should be planning for this for what I consider to be the long haul into 2021."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMicGh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzLXNjaWVudGlmaWMtYWR2aXNlcnMtZGlzdGFuY2UtdGhlbXNlbHZlcy1mcm9tLXBtcy1sb2NrZG93bi1lYXNpbmctMTIwMTM0NDLSAXRodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9hbXAvY29yb25hdmlydXMtc2NpZW50aWZpYy1hZHZpc2Vycy1kaXN0YW5jZS10aGVtc2VsdmVzLWZyb20tcG1zLWxvY2tkb3duLWVhc2luZy0xMjAxMzQ0Mg?oc=5
2020-06-23 19:06:58Z
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