A GOVERNMENT scientific adviser criticised ministers today for “flip-flopping” between encouraging people to visit bars and restaurants and closing such businesses due to a spike in Covid-19 cases.

Professor John Edmunds, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), urged the government to adopt a long-term strategy, while it was reported that the hospitality sector could face restrictions until next spring.

Current national lockdown measures in England mean that venues such as pubs, bars and restaurants have been forced to close, but they are expected to reopen on December 2 when the lockdown ends.

Throughout August, Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out To Help Out scheme encouraged people to eat in restaurants by subsidising their consumption of food and non-alcoholic drinks.

Prof Edmunds said: “Flip-flopping between encouraging people to mix socially, which is what you’re doing by encouraging people to go to restaurants and bars, versus then immediately closing them again, isn’t a very sensible way to run the epidemic.

“We need to take a long-term view and be sensible and realise that we’re going to have to have restrictions in place for some time.

“Yes, we can lift them when it’s safe to do so, which will be primarily when large numbers of people have been vaccinated.”

Under current plans, a regional tiered system is set to replace the England lockdown next month, but Prof Edmunds said that it was “too early to judge” whether that would be the right time to ease the rules.

He also warned that a return to Tier 1, the lowest level of the regional tier system, when the lockdown ends would be “very unwise” as it “doesn’t do much at all” to suppress the virus.