Britain’s envoy to the World Health Organisation has pleaded with governments to refrain from locking-down every time corona virus infections rise as he slammed the ‘ghastly global catastrophe’ caused by crashing the world economy.

Dr David Nabarro blasted the use of lockdowns as a ‘primary means of controlling this virus’ and said they are only justified ‘to buy you time to reorganise, regroup rebalance your resources’ and ‘protect your health workers’.

Speaking to Andrew Neil for The Spectator magazine, the WHO scientist bemoaned the collapse of the tourism industry and claimed there would be a ‘doubling’ in the levels of world poverty and child malnutrition by next year as he warned that lockdowns make ‘poor people an awful lot poorer’.

‘I want to say it again: We in the World Health Organisation do not advocate lockdowns as a primary means of controlling this virus,’ Dr Nabarro said.

‘The only time we believe a lockdown is justified is to buy you time to reorganise, regroup, rebalance your resources, protect your health workers who are exhausted. But by and large, we’d rather not do it.