The huge task that lies ahead

Suddenly, after watching from afar the traumas endured in Italy and Spain, the UK now has the highest number of daily fatalities from the coronavirus in Europe. The figure of 854 deaths from the disease in the latest recorded 24-hour period was slightly more than France and above the two countries that had hitherto borne the brunt of the pandemic on the Continent. Mercifully, the overall number of fatalities here since the start of the crisis remains well below the total death tolls in Italy and Spain, which are the highest in the world, though the acceleration has slowed, as it has here. The trajectory of the infection in the UK is similar to theirs, if a few weeks behind.

Sadly, there are thousands more tragedies and bereavements to come, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, said it will be a week or so before we know if new infections are slowing,

The record daily tally of fatalities in France, taking the total to almost 9,000, prompted the government in Paris to tighten the lockdown even further, banning all outside exercise between the hours of 10am and 7pm. Gendarmes patrol the streets demanding the identity documents and special passes of anyone out and about. We sincerely hope the Government here is not tempted to follow suit.

By and large, the rules are being observed, and the police can deal with those who flout them without making life impossible for everyone else. Complete daytime incarceration risks losing popular support for the measures, rendering them even harder to sustain.

With Boris Johnson still in intensive care, though, we are assured, not in need of respiratory assistance and expected to pull through, an even greater responsibility for making decisions falls on the Cabinet. In particular it falls on Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, who is deputising for the Prime Minister, chairing the daily Covid emergency committees and fronting the regular press briefings. Mr Raab does not possess the authority of the Prime Minister but his colleagues need to give him the breathing space to carry out the functions of chief executive while Mr Johnson recuperates. While Downing Street insists that the Prime Minister followed his doctor’s advice after his diagnosis and stripped back his schedule, he was still under immense pressure. That may be why his condition deteriorated so dramatically on Monday. He needs to recover fully this time. And yet so much has to be done. The strategy put in place to protect the economy and suppress the contagion is not working. Businesses say they are still not receiving the government-guaranteed loans that were announced a fortnight ago. Why not?

The army of 750,000 NHS volunteers who signed up two weeks ago is only now being called into action. Why has it taken so long? The answer is apparently that checks had to take place, and yet this is an emergency.

During the Second World War, Churchill used to stamp the words Action This Day on his prime ministerial orders. We need to see the same urgency now. In particular, we need to see it where testing for the virus is concerned. The news that Public Health England bought millions of kits to check for antibodies from China only to discover they were useless is the latest of many setbacks. Stories abound of help being offered by private organisations but turned down or not followed up.

The lockdown is due to be reviewed after the Easter weekend but with deaths still rising there is no chance of an early reprieve, as Mr Raab made clear at the Downing Street news conference. Indeed, some ministers are arguing for even tougher social controls.

Mr Johnson, an instinctive liberal, will be looking for an early end to the restrictions if possible, recognising that this is a political and economic as well as a clinical judgment. Even if he cannot function fully for a while, we still trust that the Prime Minister’s instincts will win through. Once we are through the peak – and if the NHS can cope – then the country will expect to see at least the start of a return to normality.

‘Churchill used to stamp the words Action This Day on his orders. We need to see the same urgency now’