UK Chief Medical Officer Challenges Covid Outdoor Activity Restrictions in Inquiry

Professor Sir Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, criticized the UK's stringent Covid-19 lockdown restrictions on outdoor activities, suggesting a more liberal approach should have been taken. He highlighted that evidence from early in the pandemic showed outdoor environments were much safer than indoor settings for virus transmission, and limiting time outdoors was difficult to justify from an infection control perspective. Sir Chris emphasized that the restriction on outdoor time "almost happened by accident" and particularly stressed the importance of outdoor play for children, noting that if policies were redone, more leniency would be preferred regarding children's outdoor activities. Scientific advisors from the government’s Sage group had already recognized the safety of outdoor spaces by mid-April 2020, yet playgrounds remained closed until July. While acknowledging that close physical contact among children could still pose transmission risks regardless of location, Sir Chris maintained that the overall risk was lower outdoors. He also defended the necessity of some harsh lockdown measures, like school closures, to reduce peak pandemic impacts despite their negative effects.