Dr Hilary has voiced his concern over the new changes to the social distancing rules. Appearing on Wednesday's Good Morning Britain, ITV's resident doctor explained why he thought people should still act with caution and was keen to reiterate the importance of keeping a distance, despite the government reducing the two-metre distance to one-metre.
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© Photo: RexThe doctor was keen to stress the importance of social distancing
Co-host Susanna Reid took the opportunity to ask the GMB doctor: "Do you have concerns?" To which Dr Hilary responded: "Every piece of derestriction of lockdown was treated with huge caution by the Chief Scientific Medical Advisor, they were saying this is going to be with us for a long time. And while we are reducing the two metre rule to one metre - it comes with massive mitigation."
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He added: "It is two metres if you possibly can, but if you absolutely can't, then you still need the hand mitigation, you still need the hand hygiene, you still need to the social distancing, you still need to the face covering and the masks."
The medic then went on to explain why the distancing is so important to maintain. "The majority of people have behaved responsibly, but there are swathes of people who just don't see it, they don't get it. They look at the guidelines and say 'well if that's going to be alright in July, let's do it now' and that is the problem," he said.
© Photo: RexDr Hilary has been ITV resident medic for almost 30 years
"We're seeing spikes around the world in countries where we thought they got it right, we're seeing people getting closer together, we've still got 35,000 people infected right now, we had two at the end of January."
Dr Hilary has been a regular fixture on ITV for almost 30 years, and has been a particularly prominent figure throughout the coronavirus pandemic, where he has been sharing daily advice and guidance for the public. His co-star Kate Garraway recently praised the 67-year-old for being a big source of support during her husband Derek Draper's coronavirus battle, and revealed he had been the one who told her to call an ambulance when Derek was struggling with his breathing.
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