UK's CMO warns of risks as coronavirus lockdown being eased

England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said Tuesday that "big blocks of risk are being taken" as the country's coronavirus lockdown is being eased, reported Xinhua.

"If you open up too fast, a lot more people die," Whitty told a group of British lawmakers. "If we unlock too quickly we would get a substantial surge whilst a lot of people are not protected."

As of Monday, Britain had recorded over 4.22 million coronavirus cases and 124,566 deaths.

According to the modeling data considered by the British government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), at least a further 30,000 coronavirus deaths could occur in the coming months, even under the most optimistic set of assumptions.

"If people think this is all over -- I would encourage them to look to continental Europe... where a lot of countries are going back into rates going up and having to close things down again having not been in that situation before," Whitty said.

In a further warning, Whitty said: "I think it's very easy to forget quite how quickly things can turn bad if you don't keep a very very close eye on it."

"If you start shunting things forward you will get these higher peaks," he said.

On Feb. 22, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his long-anticipated "roadmap" exiting the lockdown. The reopening of schools in England on Monday was the first part of the four-step plan, which Johnson said was designed to be "cautious but irreversible."

England is expected to see all legal social restrictions being removed from June 21.