GMB star Dr Hilary Jones faced a backlash from viewers after a heated exchange with a guest during a coronavirus debate.
And it wasn’t long before Good Morning Britain viewers accused Dr Hilary, 67, of “scaremongering”.
'You can't protect – in a focused way – the vulnerable and the elderly.' @DrHilaryJones warns of the dangers of letting the virus run riot, including an overwhelmed NHS.
He states that young people can still get Covid and suffer the effects of long Covid for months afterwards. pic.twitter.com/U0cO473RIN
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) October 9, 2020
What happened on GMB this morning?
Dr Hilary discussed the possibility of more coronavirus lockdowns with political commentator Isabel Oakeshott on today’s programme (Friday October 9).
She said: “This isn’t about letting the virus to rip as people rather hysterically term it.
“It is about much more targeted support for those who need to shield, the most vulnerable and otherwise, letting the rest of people, the vast majority of people who are not very, very seriously affected by coronavirus, get on with their lives.”
She continued: “Three hundred people a day die of cancer. I don’t see us shutting down the entire economy for that.”
As a result, Dr Hils disagreed strongly.
How did Dr Hilary respond on GMB?
The doctor hit back saying: “In the first lockdown [there was] over 52,000 deaths as a result of COVID-19, and she wants to open up the the the whole of the UK to COVID-19.
You can’t protect in a focused way, the vulnerable, and the elderly – you can’t.
“You can’t protect in a focused way, the vulnerable, and the elderly. And if we just say, ‘oh, let it run riot’, we will have an overwhelmed NHS.”
He added: “Young people can get this too. This can be a very serious illness. Many NHS staff died from COVID-19. To let it run riot is reckless.”
Isabel said: “I would just like to take Dr Hilary up on the statistic he wheeled out there, he said many people under the age of 40 have died of coronavirus.
“In fact, the number of people under the age of 60 without any underlying health conditions that have died of coronavirus is in the region of 300.
“300 deaths out of a population of 66 million.”
Dr Hilary cut in: “Yeah because only a few people have been exposed. Did you not hear that bit? Probably 20 per cent of the population [have been exposed].”
As the pair began talking over each other, host Ben Shephard said: “Sorry Isabel, we’re running out of time and we have let you speak for a while.
“Let’s go to Professor Scally.”
@GMB Dr. Hilary, stop scaremongering public. If you apply the same % of 300 deaths of 20% of population to 80% the total number would be 1,200 and not 1,000’s as you claim. STOP SCARING PUBLIC. Economy is destroyed and suicide rate is increasing
— william tell (@william10165024) October 9, 2020
#gmb bit one sided this morning dr 'misery' hilary & the prof who referred to much more sensible approach of 'fringe' scientists. Many of whom much more highly qualified & world renowned than he. Least we had a good bit of perspective from the Isabel #casedemic #falsepositives
— Dom Parmenter (@treasuretroveuk) October 9, 2020
What did GMB viewers say?
Some viewers were angry at Dr Hilary’s caution.
“Dr Hilary, stop scaremongering public,” one viewer wrote on Twitter. “Economy is destroyed and suicide rate is increasing.”
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“Seeing @IsabelOakeshott throwing the statistics & data at Dr Hilary is the best thing I’ve seen on TV this month,” another wrote.
However, others agreed with Dr Hilary.
Dr Hilary trying to educate Isabel Oakeshott on #GMB but it’s a tough job. She knows more about health care than him of course 🙄
— Gary Sitton (@SittonGary) October 9, 2020
Isabel Oakeshott being actually embarrassed by Dr Hilary here but ploughing on regardless with her mindless pre-determined "set us free" speil.
Fine to start off with that stance but a doctor is literally pointing out things she's missed but no acknowledgement from her#GMB— Joe Scott (@litanyoftittery) October 9, 2020
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