GMB’s Dr Hilary sparks fury as he brands Sarah Everard vigil ‘super-spreader event’
Dr Hilary #DrHilary
Good Morning Britain ‘s Dr Hilary Jones sparked anger on Tuesday’s show when he called the vigil held for Sarah Everard a “super-spreader” event.
The vigil in Clapham Common was held to remember Sarah, who went missing on March 3rd with a Metropolitan Police officer charged with her kidnap and murder.
The police were criticised for their handling of the vigil, as many manhandled women and arrested them, with Labour leader Keir Starmer calling the footage “deeply disturbing”.
Dr Hilary was speaking about the vigil, which was deemed unlawful due to the coronavirus, and said there was “no doubt” it was a “super-spreader” event.
Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, and Sir Patrick Vallance, chief scientific advisor, have both said there is no evidence protests cause a spike in Covid cases.
Looking at a photo from the vigil, Dr Hilary said: “All those people are wearing masks, mosts of them are, but masks alone don’t protect us from Covid-19, and we will see another wave.
“It’s going to take two or three weeks to see a spike as a result of the mass gathering, this is a doctor talking now, if you have a mass gathering for any cause, and i know how important the Sarah Everard protest is,” he said.
“However, when you get a lot of people together, you are going to spread Covid-19, you are going to see deaths further down the line.”
Susanna asked: “Even though outdoor transmission is far less likely?”
“It’s less, but we said that before Cheltenham, and that was a super-spreading event – we have to be really careful that whenever people get together whatever the cause and how strongly they feel, it is putting lives at risk down the line,” replied Dr Hilary.
“I am all in favour of peaceful protests, with a cause as important as this, but there must be creative ways of doing this,” he added, suggesting it should have been more socially distanced.
One viewer tweeted: “Dr Hilary ugh go away criticising Sarah’s vigil and saying about himself ‘this is a doctor speaking now’ to Ben and susannah, omg I do not like his arrogant attitude”.
“How come that # GMB doesn’t know the difference between a protest, a demonstration and a vigil?” asked another.
But a third agreed with Dr Hilary’s sentiment,writing: ” # GMB well said Dr dolittle.. this women’s protest has done nothing but made coronavirus worse but susanna still fkin defending it”.
* Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV at 6am