PM ‘optimistic’ over roadmap plan
BORIS JOHNSON has said he is “very optimistic” that he will be able to fully remove all of England’s coronavirus restrictions on June 21, but warned “nothing can be guaranteed”.
The Prime Minister urged the nation to be “prudent” by continuing to follow the rules after publishing his map to gradually lift the lockdown over the coming months.
Meanwhile, England’s schedule for easing restrictions was followed yesterday afternoon by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon detailing her own plan for easing Scotland’s lockdown. She said the stay-at-home order is expected to be lifted from April 5, with a phased reopening of the economy hoped to start on April 26 and to be separated by at least three weeks.
Ms Sturgeon said she hopes to be able to give more detail in mid-march on the easing of restrictions.
Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford suggesting stay-at-home orders could be eased in around three weeks. In Northern Ireland, First Minister Arlene Foster has promised that a “decision-making framework” on how the executive plans to exit lockdown will be published on March 1.
Facing criticism from some Tory MPS over the pace of change, Mr Johnson said he was “hopeful” that all legal controls can be removed on the final date earmarked in his four-step plan.
Mr Johnson also announced that senior minister Michael Gove will lead a review into the possible use of vaccine passports to access currently closed venues, such as pubs and theatres.
Having insisted that he will be led by “data not dates”, the Prime Minister expressed optimism that relaxations will be complete by June 21, as tentatively scheduled in his road map, when nightclubs could reopen and large-scale events resume.
“I’m hopeful but obviously nothing can be guaranteed and it all depends on the way we continue to be prudent and continue to follow the guidance in each stage,” he said.
“Genuinely, because of the immense possibilities of the rollout, because science has given us this way of creating a shield around our population, we can really look at that June 21 date with some optimism.”
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Matt Hancock appealed for people to get jabs amid warnings the virus may persist in deprived communities where uptake is low.
The chairman of the Covid Recovery Group of lockdown-sceptical Tory MPS, Mark Harper, said the country should not be “held back” by those who refuse it.
However, Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of Government advisory group SPI-M, warned that failure to ensure all communities are protected could lead to a new wave.
Government data up to February 22 shows that of the 18,558,969 jabs given in the UK so far, 17,916,181 were first doses – up 192,341 on the previous day. As of 9am yesterday, there had been a further 8,489 lab-confirmed cases in the UK.
US president Joe Biden led the nation in reflection after the Covid19 death toll in the US topped 500,000, a staggering number that all but matches the number of Americans killed in the Second World War, Korea and Vietnam combined.
Mr Biden held a moment of silence and a candle-lighting ceremony at the White House and ordered American flags to be lowered at federal buildings for the next five days.
“We have to resist becoming numb to the sorrow,” Mr Biden said. “We have to resist viewing each life as a statistic or a blur.”
The grim milestone, as recorded by Johns Hopkins University, comes as states redouble efforts to get the coronavirus vaccine into arms after last week’s winter weather closed clinics, slowed vaccine deliveries and forced tens of thousands of people to miss their shots.
Despite the rollout of vaccines since mid-december, a closely watched model from the University of Washington projects more than 589,000 dead by June 1.
The US toll is by far the highest reported in the world, accounting for 20% of the nearly 2.5 million coronavirus deaths globally, though the true numbers are thought to be significantly greater, in part because many cases were overlooked, especially early in the outbreak.
The first known deaths from the virus in the US were in early February
2020. It took four months to reach the first 100,000 deaths. The toll hit 200,000 in September and 300,000 in December, then took just over a month to go from 300,000 to 400,000 and another month to climb from 400,000 to 500,000.
The US recorded an estimated 405,000 deaths in the Second World War, 58,000 in the Vietnam War and 36,000 in the Korean War.
Average daily deaths and cases have plummeted in the past few weeks. Virus deaths have fallen from more than 4,000 reported on some days in January to an average of fewer than 1,900 per day.
But experts warn that dangerous variants could cause the trend to reverse itself. And some experts say not enough Americans have been inoculated yet for the vaccine to be making much of a difference.
Instead, the drop-off in deaths and cases has been attributed to the passing of the holidays; the cold and bleak days of midwinter, when many people stay home; and better adherence to mask rules and social distancing.
Dr Ryan Stanton, an emergency room doctor in Lexington, Kentucky, who has treated scores of Cocid-19 patients, said he never thought the US deaths would be so high.
“I definitely thought we would be done with it before we got into the (autumn). And I definitely didn’t see it heading off into 2021,” Dr Stanton said.