Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

UK schools’ reopening could see Covid-19 cases multiply rapidly but it’s ‘not certain,’ Professor Lockdown warns

UK schools’ reopening could see Covid-19 cases multiply rapidly but it’s ‘not certain,’ Professor Lockdown warns

The UK might need to hold off on easing Covid-19 restrictions if it wants its schools to re-open without triggering a new viral outbreak, epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, who once prompted London to impose a strict lockdown, warns.
Secondary schools throughout the UK could become new centers of infection as soon as the educational facilities fully re-open in September, Ferguson warned in his latest alarming forecast.

“The risk then is that big schools, comprehensives, universities and FE colleges, link lots of households together, reconnecting the social network,” the scientist told BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ program. “That poses a real risk of amplification of transmission, of case numbers going up quite sharply.”

Ferguson formerly headed the team of epidemiologists at Imperial College London that warned that 500,000 Brits would die from coronavirus unless strict lockdown measures were imposed. While the official number is nowhere near this figure – 46,364 deaths linked to Covid-19 as of Wednesday – Ferguson now warns that that the easing of restrictions could send it through the roof.

He claims the return of teenagers to high schools could increase the virus reproduction value – a marker showing how quickly the epidemic spreads – by “as much as a half.”

Under such circumstances, the government must be ready for “all contingencies” and might even need to reverse some of its policies aimed at easing the Covid-19 restrictions, Ferguson believes.

The reasons for such a grim forecast is that it “looks like older teenagers can transmit just as well as adults,” he says, adding that the evidence was not irrefutable.

Ferguson was dubbed ‘Professor Lockdown’ after suggesting the UK population should be in no rush to return to normal life until at least next spring – all in the name of public safety.

He then got caught violating the rules he so ardently championed by meeting with his married lover at the very time when such “social interactions” were forbidden. The scandal forced Ferguson to resign from SAGE – the government’s scientific advisory group.

Later, he backtracked on his own recommendations, admitting that the strict lockdown London imposed, in part due to his advice, had made no difference when it came to the UK’s success in tackling the disease in comparison to other nations, such as Sweden, which did not introduce such tight restrictions.

Schools are currently preparing for all children to return to their desks in September and follow the existing government health guidelines, Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the UK’s National Association of Head Teachers, has said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×