PM: Europe’s third wave will wash up on our shores
BRITAIN will be hit by the third wave of Covid infections that is currently sweeping Europe, Boris Johnson warned yesterday.
The Prime Minister will mark the first anniversary of the original lockdown today by holding a minute’s silence for private reflection on ‘one of the most difficult years in our country’s history’.
Yesterday he said the last 12 months had taken ‘a huge toll on us all’ and spoke of his ‘sincere condolences’ for the families of the 126,172 people who have died.
But he also warned that Britain now had to be braced for a third wave of the virus that is already hitting Europe.
On a visit to Lancashire, he told reporters: ‘On the continent right now you can see sadly there is a third wave under way.
‘Previous experience has taught us that when a wave hits our friends, I’m afraid it washes up on our shores and I expect we will feel those effects in due course.
‘That is why we are getting on without vaccination programme as fast as we can – but developing a vaccine, rolling it out, these are international projects and they require international co-operation.’
The failure of the EU vaccination programme has seen Covid cases start to spread rapidly again across many European countries. Italy has a state of emergency in place, while both France and Germany have moved to tighten or extend lockdown measures in recent days because of surging cases.
The threat raises serious questions for the Government’s travel taskforce, which is examining whether the current travel ban should be lifted from May 21. Downing Street last night said the taskforce had yet to reach any conclusions. But a Whitehall source acknowledged that surging cases in Europe ‘may influence what happens next in terms of travel’. The PM played down the risk that a third wave of the virus could derail the roadmap out of lockdown. ‘We will just bash on with the roadmap we set out, with the programme we’ve got,’ he said.
In a message released last night, the Prime Minister urged people to ‘also remember the great spirit shown by our nation over this past year’.
He added: ‘We have all played our part, whether it’s working on the front line as a nurse or carer, working on vaccine development and supply, helping to get that jab into arms, home schooling your children, or just by staying at home to prevent the spread of the virus.
‘It’s because of every person in this country that lives have been saved, our NHS was protected, and we have started on our cautious road to easing restrictions once and for all.’
Mark Harper, chairman of the 70-strong Covid Recovery Group of Tory MPs, said surging cases in Europe should not delay the path out of lockdown here, where the NHS remains on course to vaccinate all over-50s by the middle of next month.
But Sage committee scientists Professor Andrew Hayward warned that three million over-55s had still not been vaccinated, including 500,000 over 65.
‘There are a lot of people who could still get very ill,’ he said.