4 years ago
266 
Image copyright
House of Commons
Image caption
Sir Patrick wore a reusable mask to the session in Parliament
There is "absolutely no reason" to change the guidance on working from home, the UK's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance has said.
Since late March the government has advised people to work from home if possible to help curb coronavirus.
But last week Prime Minister Boris Johnson signalled a change, saying: "I think we should now say, well, 'go back to work if you can'."
Sir Patrick said home working was still a "perfectly good option" for many.
Speaking to the Commons science and technology committee, he said it was his view - and one shared by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) - that distancing measures were still important for containing the virus.
"Of the various distancing measures, working from home for many companies remains a perfectly good option because it's easy to do," he said.
"I think a number of companies think it's actually not detrimental to productivity. And in that situation, there's absolutely no reason I can see to change it."
It comes as the government continues to try to balance the economic and health risks of the pandemic.
Asked about Britain's response to the virus, Sir Patrick said: "It's clear that the outcome has not been good in the UK, I think you can be absolutely clear about that.
"There are many factors that are going to play in this as we look and say, 'what is it that makes some countries having done worse than others?', and there will be decisions made that will turn out not to have been the right decisions at the time."
In mid-March, Sir Patrick said it would be a "good outcome" for the UK if the number of deaths from the virus could be kept below 20,000.
The latest figures show 45,119 people have died after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK, up by 66 on the previous day.
Sir Patrick said it was "quite probable" that the virus will come back "in different waves over a number of years", but stressed the UK was still going through the first wave.
"When people talk about second wave now, actually, what I think they're talking about really is a re-emergence of the first wave," he said.
"All we have done is suppressed the first wave and when you take the brakes off you would expect it to come back."
It comes after a report, requested by the scientific adviser, suggested the UK could see about 120,000 new coronavirus deaths during this winter. This could be seen as "the tail end of the first wave still", Sir Patrick said.
