We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

In the UK, the Government has begun easing lockdown restrictions and from July 4, the likes of cinemas and restaurants will be able to reopen despite concerns of a second spike in the deadly virus. The UK has the highest death toll across all of Europe after surpassing 40,000.

And now, Professor Hajtó Tibor, a globally renowned immunologist, has raised concerns politicians are more focused on saving the economy than people’s lives.

Speaking to Express.co.uk, Professor Tibor said: “Social distancing is always helpful in the prevention of an epidemic.

“However, we must not forget that the capacity of hospitals is never sufficient enough, if a great number of patients with serious symptoms need an urgent medical help during a short time.

“In addition, an unexpected epidemic requires many victims in the healthy system too, since the healthy personal are also not sufficiently protected.

“We know it very well that the economy and medicine are often not in accordance with each other but we must learn from epidemic.

“We need in the medicine more reserves, more capacity and more immunology.

“The politicians must learn that life is always more important than the economy.”

When asked whether humans would ever be immune to the virus, Professor Tibor believes the question remains open at the moment.

He said: “In spite of the facts that memory T and B cells belong to the adaptive immune system and they appeared to be less involved in the immune defence against the COVID infections, we must not forget that there is a very huge abundance in antiviral immunity.

“Important effector cells in innate system (such as NK cells) have also memory functions.

“However, the clinical practice is not able to test this natural memory.

“Therefore this question that in which degree can protect the immune system against a reinfection, remains open at the moment.”

DON’T MISS 
‘We’re testing DOUBLE the EU’ Boris Johnson shuts down ITV’s Peston [INSIGHT] 
Leicester Labour Mayor caught unprepared on new coronavirus rules [REVEAL] 
Boris Johnson gets tough on children going to school in September [OPINION]

Despite many countries have reported lower transmission and death rates in recent weeks, there has been an increase of cases in countries such as Germany and China.

But Professor Tibor hopes a second wave of the pandemic will be less serious if the virus doesn’t “exhibit important mutations”.

He continued: “The severity of a second wave of epidemics will be hopefully less if the virus don’t exhibit important mutations (genetic drift).

“Of course we can’t estimate exactly that in the first wave how many people were able to overcome the COVID infection mediated by very rapid innate immune responses which can often inhibit the appearance of typical clinical symptoms.

“One can call it as herd immunity.”

Professor Tibor went on to explain a bleak future for society in a post-coronavirus world.

He explained: “We can never be absolutely free from the viruses but the so-called hybrid viruses caused by a genetic shift (in that there is genetic exchange between two types of viruses) can be very dangerous.

“We must elaborate new therapy modalities for the prophylaxis.”

He also warned a vaccine will not always be successful and said: “Since a great number of virus antigens were detected, I’m sure that the vaccine against COVID will give a great possibility for the prophylaxis but we must not forget that it is not always successful.”

Source: Read Full Article