A VIRUS BATTLE PLAN... AT LAST
PM stung into action as he holds emergency meeting ++ Blueprint to tackle crisis unveiled tomorrow
BORIS Johnson will take charge of the Government response to the coronavirus outbreak today after being stung by claims he was acting like a ‘part-time Prime Minister’.
He will lead a meeting of the Government’s emergency committee Cobra this morning for the first time as he seeks to reassure the country he has got a grip on the crisis.
The senior ministers and officials will sign off a battle plan to contain and defeat the virus, which will be published tomorrow. A war room will now be set up in the Cabinet Office which will include NHS and communications chiefs to coordinate a response.
It came as the number of confirmed cases rose by 50 per cent to 36 yesterday.
Mr Johnson acknowledged the figure would continue to increase in the coming days, despite frantic efforts to contain the spread of the virus.
He said there ‘now seems little doubt that it will present a significant challenge’ to the UK in the coming days and weeks.
Criticism mounted last week over his decision to delegate management of the crisis to Health Secretary Matt Hancock. Even ex-Tory chancellor George Osborne said the Government had to ‘get a grip’.
Yesterday the Prime Minister broke cover, donning a yellow biohazard suit to visit Public Health England’s laboratory in Colindale, north-west London. It is one of a number of labs where tests for the virus are carried out. He then went to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead to meet staff who are treating patients with the illness.
Speaking ahead of today’s emergency meeting, Mr Johnson said: ‘The number of coronavirus cases around the world is rising every day – and the UK is no exception.
‘There now seems little doubt that it will present a significant challenge for our country.
‘But we are well prepared, and the Government and the NHS will stop at nothing to fight this virus. This battle plan lays out in detail the measures we could use – if and when they are needed.’
Tomorrow’s proposals will set out how the Government will respond if and when the coronavirus reaches epidemic proportions.
Mr Johnson yesterday said he wanted to see schools stay open for as long as possible, and emergency laws will be published this week to allow class sizes to increase if teachers are off sick.
But tomorrow’s blueprint is likely to include provisions for school closures if the situation worsens.
Mass gatherings, such as at sports events and concerts, could also be banned temporarily and
Mr Hancock said draconian measures, such as sealing off whole cities, had not been ruled out.
Privately, officials say that ministers could have to address ‘very difficult’ issues.
These could include deciding whether to allow the virus to take its course quickly or try to delay its spread. The first option would likely result in a higher peak in the number of cases, but would allow the economic and social disruption to pass more quickly.
Downing Street has insisted that Mr Johnson has remained in overall charge of the response since the virus first emerged in January.
‘Draconian measures’
No 10 said there had been weekly Cobra meetings.
Although none was attended by the Prime Minister, he is said to have been updated regularly. Mr Johnson held a high-level meeting of ministers and officials on Friday night.
Sources said the Prime Minister
had visited NHS staff who may soon be on the frontline.
He visited Kettering General Hospital in Northamptonshire last week to see its new coronavirus ‘pod’ where people can come to be checked.
Meanwhile, health chiefs in the Canary Islands have said
British tourists trapped in a Tenerife hotel hit by coronavirus can leave as long as they are well and the Government can guarantee continuing care.
Hopes of an early end to their holiday hell were first raised last week when talks began with embassies and consulates about a possible repatriation. But the Foreign Office poured cold water on the idea by insisting there were no plans to bring trapped tourists back from the H10 Costa Adeje Palace.
That left more than 100 Britons facing an end date on their lockdown of March 9.