Statement from Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty on national alert levels

Statement from Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty on national alert levels We have faced several grave moments during our battle against coronavirus. But right now, the country is perhaps facing the most serious yet.

The new, more transmissible variant of this disease is spreading rapidly across the country and having tragic consequences. On Monday the 4 UK Chief Medical Officers and the NHS Medical Director recommended raising the national alert level to the maximum of level 5 for the first time. This means that without further action there is a material risk of our healthcare services being overwhelmed within 21 days. Since then the situation has deteriorated further. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• Statement from Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock on testing and vaccinations Department of Health and Social Care
• Asymptomatic testing to be rolled out across the country starting this week Department of Health and Social Care
• Policy paper: Community testing Department of Health and Social Care
• Statement from Chief Medical Adviser for NHS Test and Trace, Susan Hopkins on community testing Department of Health and Social Care
• Moderna COVID-19 vaccine authorised by UK medicines regulator Department of Health and Social Care
• Statement from Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi on vaccine deployment Department of Health and Social Care
• New TV advert urges public to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives Department of Health and Social Care
• Hundreds of thousands invited to new NHS vaccination centres NHS England
• Guidance: National protocol for COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca (ChAdOx1-S [recombinant]) Public Health England
• Guidance: National protocol for COVID-19 mRNA vaccine BNT162b2 (Pfizer/BioNTech) Public Health England