Richard Madeley argues Dr Hilary Jones is giving ‘misleading’ coronavirus advice

Richard Madeley challenged Dr Hilary Jones on GMB. (ITV)

Richard Madeley has accused Good Morning Britain’s Dr Hilary Jones of “misleading” viewers over coronavirus advice after a disagreement about the end of restrictions.

Guest host Madeley was back on the ITV breakfast news show on Monday morning and in optimistic mood as he declared there was “nothing but good news this morning”.

He said: “This is the first show I’ve come in and thought, we’ve got basically nothing but good news this morning. The football, the 19th, we can relax and celebrate a bit, no?”

Read more: Richard Madeley would consider replacing Piers Morgan on GMB

But co-host Susanna Reid pointed out: “Er… infections are going up, you know that. Hospitalisations are going up.”

Richard Madeley is back as a guest host on Good Morning Britain. (Tabatha Fireman/Getty Images)

Madeley argued “only a tiny bit” as the presenters turned to Dr Hilary for expert advice.

Asked if it was time to celebrate yet, Dr Hilary warned: “No, because you know, Susanna, experts are divided on this. They’re completely divided, just as much as the population are.

“Here we are thinking of abandoning all restrictions when we have got cases going up 73% in a week, and 55% hospitalisations in a week.”

Madeley said: “But hang on, we’ve got the vaccine.”

Dr Hilary replied: “Yes you are absolutely right, we do have the vaccine but what people forget is the vaccination doesn’t give you 100% protection.

“10% of people who are double jabbed are still likely to get the virus and are still vulnerable.”

Madeley accused the medic of misleading people as he said: “Don’t you think the use of percentages, you’re using percentages to make a case here but that’s a bit misleading, because yes the percentage rise in hospitalisations has gone up, I think 24%? 

“That sounds a lot, but in real numbers it’s starting at a very low level.”

Dr Hilary Jones urged caution. (ITV)

Dr Hilary said: “We’ve got millions of people who still haven’t been vaccinated. We’ve got a variant which is more transmissible, and some experts have said the more cases you have it is a factory to develop new variants.

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“What if we get a new variant that comes along and is resistant to the vaccines that we’ve currently used? The whole thing is out of the window.”

Asked by Madeley whether he thought Freedom Day shouldn’t go ahead on the 19th, Dr Hilary said: “We already have freedom, we’ve already got a lot of freedom.

Read more: Richard Madeley challenges Dr Hilary over caution on lockdown easing

“I’m saying people need to exercise restraint and if you’re going into somewhere with poor ventilation or a crowded space, you have really got to be careful.”

Madeley asked his co-stars whether they still planned on wearing masks, and after Reid and Dr Hilary both said they would in enclosed spaces, Madeley decided he would too in the supermarket if that was “the vibe”, but not if others weren’t bothering.

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