Lockdowns “never ultimately prevent infection” and only serve to flatten the curve and thereby prolong the epidemic, a British medical professor has warned. Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said on Tuesday that there is no need for a lockdown in the UK as the increase in COVID-19 cases appears to be slowing. He told the PA news agency that measures such as social distancing and lockdowns “never ultimately prevent infection unless eradication is a possibility.” “What they do is flatten the curve and delay the inevitable,” he added. “Sometimes that is sufficient if the epidemic would overwhelm the health service, or if effective new treatments or vaccines are coming.” “No new treatments or vaccines are likely to come soon so the issue is all about flattening the peak. But if you flatten the peak you prolong the epidemic, or as we say, ‘the area …