The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Johnson refuses to rule
PM says he is willing to bring forward measures such as restricting travel to suppress peak of epidemic in near future
Boris Johnson refused to rule out a UK-wide lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus as confirmed cases in the UK rose to 2,626.
The prime minister said the government would do “whatever it takes” to beat “the invisible enemy”, as it was announced schools across the entire UK would be closed from tomorrow.
Mr Johnson, appearing in Downing Street, said he was willing to bring forward further measures, such as restricting travel, to suppress the peak of the epidemic in the near future.
“We live in a land of liberty, it’s one of the great features of our lives that we don’t tend to impose those sorts of restrictions on people in this country, but I have to tell you we will rule nothing out”, he said.
He added: “We will certainly wish to consider bringing forward further and faster measures where that is necessary to suppress the peak of the epidemic, to protect our NHS, to minimise casualties and to minimise suffering, that is our objective.”
It comes as UK deaths reached 104 after the NHS said a further 32 people had died in England.
Confirmed cases in the UK rose to 2,626 yesterday, from 1,950 on Tuesday. There have been 56,221 tests carried out in the UK for Covid-19, of which 53,595 were confirmed negative.
Mr Johnson said a “game-changer” test to determine whether an individual has developed antibodies to tackle the coronavirus is “coming down the track”.
The government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said: “That’s progressing very fast, Public Health England are looking at this today.
“They’ve got a test in house they’ve got going and we’re looking at ways at getting the much more widespread version out.
“Going forward it’s going to be critically important to be able to monitor this disease well because only by being able to monitor it can we start relaxing measures again.”
The prime minister added: “The great thing about having a test to see whether you’ve had it enough is suddenly a green light goes on above your head and you can go back to work in the safe and confident in the knowledge that you are most unlikely to get it again.
“So for an economic point of view, from a social point of view, it really could be a game-changer.
“You can really see the potential of that advance, which, as I say, is coming down the track.”
In other developments:
● Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said the government will introduce emergency legislation to suspend new evictions from social or private rented accommodation “during this national emergency”.
● Princess Beatrice cancelled her wedding reception, but plans to wed at the Chapel Royal on May 29 in a private ceremony.
● New Bank of England boss Andrew Bailey has not ruled out handing money directly to households and businesses, while Mr Johnson said he was looking at an emergency universal income scheme to help workers.
● The FTSE 100 continued its downward slump with a more than 5% drop at about 9.30am yesterday, wiping around £68 billion off the value of London’s biggest companies.
● A baby has tested positive for Covid-19 at the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston in Norfolk, the second reported UK case among infants.
● The youngest person to die in the UK to date has been named as 45-yearold Craig Ruston, who had motor neurone disease and had tested positive for Covid-19.
● Filming on EastEnders and BBC Studios dramas including Casualty, Doctors, Holby City, Pobol y Cwm and River City will be postponed until further notice.
● Professor Neil Ferguson, of Imperial College London, one of the lead authors on a paper which predicted 250,000 people could die if the UK did not switch tactics, said he is self-isolating after developing symptoms of Covid-19.
● Sainsbury’s became the latest supermarket to announce measures to help the elderly and vulnerable.
● Global confirmed cases of coronavirus have topped 200,000 worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.
An invisible menace has descended upon Westminster.
The streets surrounding Parliament, which are usually bustling with tourists, street vendors and stressed commuters, are empty.
London’s famous red buses continue to loop Parliament Square – but, beside the driver, they’re completely vacant.
Inside the Palace of Westminster, the picture isn’t much different.
The corridors of power have been getting quieter and quieter with each passing day as the reality of coronavirus bites.
The at times raucous bars within the parliamentary estate, Strangers’, the Woolsack and the House of Lords’ bar, are all closed by order of the Speaker.
Portcullis House, which adjoins the Palace of Westminster via an underground tunnel, is usually the hub where journalists gossip to MPs over coffee, aides share lunch and lobbyists meet, but now it’s a ghost town.
Within the Commons chamber, MPs are being told to stay away unless necessary.
Ahead of Prime Minister’s Questions an unprecedented email went round from the Whips’ Office, asking parliamentarians to only enter the chamber if they had a question.
The instruction left the main weekly event in the Commons looking more like a late night adjournment debate, with little over 40 MPs present.
In the parliamentary press gallery the picture is the same, many desks are empty as journalists opt to work from home instead of braving the commute into central London, which is the epicentre of the outbreak in the UK.
It’s hard to fathom just how much life in the capital has changed in a week, one of the busiest cities in the world has hit the pause button – the question we all want to know is when we can press play again.
“The corridors of power have been getting quieter and quieter with each passing day as the reality of coronavirus bites