Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK’s chief scientific adviser, told MPs earlier this month that protests elsewhere had not resulted in a spike in infections and that outdoor gatherings were safer than indoors, though not risk free.
He said: “It is the case that it is difficult to see how things like large beach gatherings and so on can cause a spike. The same was the case in a protest march in New York; they did not really see any spikes after that.
“It is lower risk, but the other thing that can happen with outdoor events, and so on, is that, when indoor things are also open, you start to get people congregating indoors around that. That can increase risk, but outdoors itself is lower risk.”
This comes as anti-lockdown protests erupted in London and a vigil following the death of Sarah Everard in south London last week resulted in arrests, as police enforced Covid and public order laws.
Earlier, more than 60 MPs and peers wrote to the home secretary calling for laws to be changed to allow peaceful protests during lockdown.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey blamed the scenes at the Clapham event on a lack of clarity putting police “in an impossible position”, adding that the right to protest was a “basic freedom”.
Unity News Network (UNN) Staff Writer | To find out more details about our staff, please head to the About Us section on our website.
