Professor Neil Ferguson, from Imperial College London and a member of Sage, said he did not have a personal preference for a date on when restrictions such as face masks and social distancing should end.
Opinion appears to be divided among the medical community, with Dr David Nabarro, the WHO’s special envoy, saying they should remain (see 8:47am) while vaccine expert Professor Brendan Wren said masks were of “dubious value” and should be voluntary (8:40am).
The Imperial College scientist and Sage member told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Certainly seasonal influenza is likely to be a significant issue coming into the autumn and winter because all the measures we adopted against Covid around the world drove flu to very low levels…
“We can counter that with seasonal flu shots which will be rolled out in the autumn, but I think we do need to be prepared for potentially quite a significant flu epidemic probably late this year, early next year.”
