Chris Whitty is right – as restrictions are eased, there remains an imperative need for caution

Caution, thy name is Whitty. Not for the first time, the chief medical officer for England, no doubt speaking for all public health officials, has had to tell the nation to calm down and carry on with the precautions.

He has warned in the sternest terms that Covid infection rates are still high, and that even with the current restrictions and the welcome success of the vaccination programme, there could still be a further 30,000 deaths before the pandemic finally dies down. Even then, the idea of a “zero Covid” society is unrealistic.

Appearing before MPs, Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance, chief scientific adviser, were time and again asked by impatient Conservative backbenchers to countenance a faster unlock because so many people were getting their jabs – almost 23 million.

The “two gentlemen of corona”, as they’ve been dubbed, were not taking the bait. It takes four weeks to assess the impact of any relaxation of controls, with another week to be given to businesses to confirm they should prepare for reopening. An especially large relaxation of indoor restrictions is due on 12 April. The likelihood is that some uptick in infections will be inevitable as people start to mingle again.

Even if more than half the adult population has had at least one vaccine dose by then, there will still be people getting ill, though often less seriously, and with better treatment and survival rates. Nonetheless, the epidemiological logic is as strong as it was when the pandemic began, and the imperative need for caution holds.

As the daffodils sprout, the sun comes out and the clocks go forward, it would be glorious to see everything open for Easter, but sadly it is not to be. If the Whitty-Vallance axis won’t approve it, then it is not going to happen, and they have ruled it out. It would be as well, then, for the prime minister and his colleagues to acknowledge this fact and “level” with the public, as the chancellor is fond of saying.

Springtime for Boris Johnson and the rest of Britain will be a subdued affair. If it is not, then the dreaded third wave could be upon us, more lockdowns and a disappointed public, who will make their feelings clear in the big round of elections across the country in May.

In better news for Mr Johnson, the scientists easily dodged the clumsy attempts by Labour MPs to get the experts to criticise the government and agree that ministers disregarded scientific guidance. When the independent inquiry into the official response to the Covid crisis eventually begins, the scientists will be very useful witnesses for the government’s defence.

Already the Conservatives and Mr Johnson’s poll ratings are picking up with every jab administered. Notwithstanding the worst death rate in Europe and a long list of failings, the early signs seem to be that, somehow, Mr Johnson will survive Covid politically, just as he did personally and clinically a year ago. Another unprecedented outcome.