Hertfordshire’s director of public health believes there could be more coronavirus outbreaks as lockdown eases and has warned residents that the next month could be “bumpy”.

Jim McManus added that an outbreak which “could affect a lot of people” may occur in around 16 days’ time.

It comes after a number of Covid cases of the new Indian variant were identified across Hertfordshire, which Mr McManus said was more transmissible.

However, the county’s public health chief says there is nowhere in Hertfordshire that he is “substantially worried about” regarding the new variant, adding there were only a small number of cases.

But speaking in a media briefing this morning (May 19), Mr McManus said that "as more things open, we expect to see more outbreaks".

He said: "I keep saying it's volatile but I think it's a 'fasten your seatbelts' as it's going to be bumpy for the next month or so and we expect that.

"And we have the new variants of concern which are trackable through existing capacity at present but we have to make sure people are cautious not complacent and cautious and not frightened.

"You still have to get your vaccine, you still have to be reasonably circumspect about the number of people you meet indoors and the number of people you meet in circulation.”

He also urged people “not to go mad” following the latest lockdown easing on May 17, adding: “Just don’t do everything you can do, just think about the fact that the more people you meet the higher your risk is."

He continued: "Why am I saying the virus is still circulating? I am basically triangulating three sets of data. One is the NHS 111 calls for Covid symptoms have plateaued, they haven’t gone away.

"The second thing is we are still seeing cases come through off tests on a fairly stable basis. The third is that the positivity level of tests has stabilised but it’s still there.

"And the doubling rate can be about eight days for some variants which means in 16 days we could see an outbreak which could affect a lot of people."

However, Mr McManus felt it would be possible for the lockdown to be further eased on June 21 if “we all do the right thing”.

And speaking about the new variant, Mr McManus said it “is a concern” but believes it is not something to be “frightened of”.

He added that whilst he was not "substanatially worried" about it in the county so far, he warned "it could go either way".

He said: "One option is we do everything we can do about the Indian variant and we keep numbers low, keep contact tracing going and businesses work with us. That's the scenario I would like.

"The scenario I don't want is people dropping their guards so much and we see a surge in infections as it is more transmissable."

He added: "Please don't go overboard with everything. Restaurants will be very safe because they have worked hard. I know that many places have worked hard to reopen.

"If you are going out socialising, you play your bit by not being too free with mixing with strangers and the restaurants and pubs will play their bit."