Boris: Infections are still forbiddingly high

... but as R falls below 1, Whitty says we have turned corner

BORIS JOHNSON last night struck a highly cautious tone on any imminent easing of lockdown as he warned of the nation being shut back down again by a resurgence of coronavirus.

Despite calls from Tory backbenchers for an exit plan from the restrictions, the Prime Minister told the Downing Street press conference that the current infection rate was still ‘forbiddingly high’ and that ‘we have to be realistic about that’.

However, chief medical officer Chris Whitty struck a more optimistic tone, saying Britain has ‘turned a corner’ in its battle against Covid-19.

Professor Whitty said transmission of the virus remained ‘very high and precarious’, but welcomed ‘definite signs of improvement’ as cases fall and hospital admissions flatten.

Mr Johnson said last night: ‘I think we will have to live with coronavirus in one way or another for a long while to come. I

‘We can’t consider unlocking’

also think that the British public and British business would much rather we opened safely and cautiously when it was right to do so, rather than opening up again and then being forced to close back down simply because the virus takes off again. I think that is a far more sensible approach.’

He made clear the Government was not considering easing lockdown measures in England until at least February 15.

Mr Johnson said: ‘We really can’t begin to consider unlocking until we’re confident that the vaccination programme is working, until we’re confident that we don’t have new variants or changes in our understanding of the virus...

‘I think the most important thing is we’ve got to be in a position where the rate of infection of the virus is not still so high, and it’s very high right now.

‘So, for unlocking just to lead to another big rebound, I think that would be the wrong thing, the wrong way, to approach this.’

Asked why tougher rules were not being brought in to combat the Kent variant, he said: ‘We are enforcing the law very stringently with increasing toughness.

‘We will do it, we will enforce the law to ensure people don’t engage in activities which will mean mass transmission of the disease, or substantial transmission of the disease. But it depends on all of us, everybody watching, doing the right thing, avoiding transmission.

‘That is far more powerful and far more effective against stopping the transmission of this virus than police action or new laws from the Government.’

Yesterday another 1,401 deaths and 40,261 cases were recorded across the UK.

However, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said the epidemic is shrinking for the first time in six weeks. They estimated the UK’s R value – the average number of people infected by someone with the virus – is now between 0.8 and 1.

This is a sharp drop from 1.2 to 1.3 last Friday and is the first major sign that restrictions introduced on January 6 are working.

Random testing by the Office for National Statistics revealed infections have fallen since the start of January, ending weeks of uncontrolled spread. One in 55 people in

England and Wales had the virus last week, the ONS said, a slight decrease from the one in 50 reported in the week to January 2.

Commenting on the data, Professor Whitty said: ‘There has been a turning of the corner ... and the number of people with infections has gone down.

‘There’s now signs [the number of people in hospital] is beginning to flatten out in some parts of England, particularly the South East, East of England and London.’ But in a stark warning, he added: ‘If people took this moment and said, “Right, it is over”, it would get back into very deep trouble very fast and the NHS is absolutely at the top of what it can manage.’

Tory MPs last night pressed Mr Johnson to agree to a timetable for lifting lockdown restrictions.

Charles Walker told the Mail: ‘The Government needs to provide an injection of hope, the nation needs something to look forward to.’’ Mark Harper, chairman of the

Covid Recovery Group pushing for lighter-touch measures, added: ‘once the top four risk groups have been vaccinated and fully protected, the Government must start easing the restrictions.’

There are currently 38,562 patients in hospitals around the UK, 78 per cent more than at the peak of the first wave in April. Professor whitty said it will take weeks to see significant drops in the ‘extraordinarily high’ number of patients and even longer for deaths to fall.

Sage said: ‘All regions of England have seen decreases in the R number and growth rate estimates compared to last week, and R is below or around 1 in every region.’