London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 10, 2025

‘Like a bad horror movie’: UK govt. advisers Vallance and Whitty accused of ‘terrifying everyone’ with doom-laden Covid prediction

‘Like a bad horror movie’: UK govt. advisers Vallance and Whitty accused of ‘terrifying everyone’ with doom-laden Covid prediction

The British government’s top scientific advisers have issued a stark prediction: 50,000 cases of Covid-19 by mid-October and up to 200 daily deaths. However, the pair have been accused of needless doom-mongering.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty and Chief Scientific Advisor Sir Patrick Vallance addressed the public on Monday, and their demeanor was stern. Britain, Whitty said, had “turned a corner” in the fight against the deadly coronavirus, in a “bad way.” Vallance then explained that new cases are “roughly doubling” in the UK every week, and left unchecked, he predicted there could be “something like 50,000 cases in the middle of October per day.” Concurrent with this would be "200-plus deaths per day.”

“The virus has genetically moved a bit, but it has not changed in terms of its propensity and its ability to cause disease and to cause death,” Vallance said. “There’s no doubt we’re in a situation where the numbers are increasing. I’d like to remind you just how quickly this can move.”


Vallance and Whitty’s prediction is just that: a prediction. It assumes that the current growth rate will continue exponentially, and that deaths will rise proportionally. Predictions, however, can be wrong. Modelling by Imperial College London in spring suggested that half a million Britons would die of Covid-19. This modelling informed the government’s ‘stay at home’ policy, before it was revealed to be founded on faulty data. Its projected death toll was revised down to 20,000, a figure that was wrong too, as nearly 42,000 have died so far.

For cases to double every week, the virus would need a daily growth rate of just over 10 percent. However, current government estimates put the daily growth rate somewhere between two and seven percent. Should that rate remain the same, Valance and Whitty’s prediction would be twice as severe as reality.

The two advisers also dismissed the notion that the virus was growing less deadly, despite death rates across Europe dropping off in recent months, and claimed that the increase in cases was not driven by an increase in testing.

The pair were accused online of fearmongering, with their worst-case scenario described as something from “a bad horror movie.”



 


Some commentators took the ominous briefing as a sign that the government is preparing to implement a fresh round of lockdown measures. Ministers reportedly debated a host of potential new restrictions over the weekend, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to address parliament on Tuesday, after a round of emergency meetings on Monday afternoon.

According to a report in the Telegraph on Friday, the measures being considered include curfews, further limits on socializing and shorter opening hours for pubs and restaurants.

Some want the government to go even further. Shortly after Vallance and Whitty gave their briefing, Labour MP Geraint Davies called for staggered classes in schools, mask mandates, and, curiously, the use of drinking straws in pubs.

Still, even within the scientific establishment, opposition is growing to Johnson’s policy of lockdowns and restrictions. In an open letter to the prime minister and his health chiefs, a group of more than two dozen scholars on Monday urged the government to isolate the most vulnerable sectors of the population and ease restrictions on the rest, calling the current goal of suppressing the virus until a vaccine arrives “unfeasible.”

Some commentators took the ominous briefing as a sign that the government is preparing to implement a fresh round of lockdown measures. Ministers reportedly debated a host of potential new restrictions over the weekend, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to address parliament on Tuesday, after a round of emergency meetings on Monday afternoon.

According to a report in the Telegraph on Friday, the measures being considered include curfews, further limits on socializing and shorter opening hours for pubs and restaurants.

Some want the government to go even further. Shortly after Vallance and Whitty gave their briefing, Labour MP Geraint Davies called for staggered classes in schools, mask mandates, and, curiously, the use of drinking straws in pubs.

Still, even within the scientific establishment, opposition is growing to Johnson’s policy of lockdowns and restrictions. In an open letter to the prime minister and his health chiefs, a group of more than two dozen scholars on Monday urged the government to isolate the most vulnerable sectors of the population and ease restrictions on the rest, calling the current goal of suppressing the virus until a vaccine arrives “unfeasible.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
×