A scientist advising the government says there has been exponential growth in the number of new cases.
Prof Gupta told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the UK was already in a third wave of infections and at least three quarters of cases were the variant identified in India.
"If you look at the costs and benefits of getting it wrong, I think it is heavily in favour of delay, so I think that's the key thing," he added. "This time around, we should be cautious, wait to see what's happening, and then let everyone free, if you like, once we know for sure that that's safe and that we can do that without having another round of lockdowns."
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