PM: No guarantees this is last lockdown

BORIS Johnson has said he aims to cautiously ease coronavirus restrictions in an “irreversible” manner, but conceded he cannot offer a “cast iron guarantee” that England’s third national lockdown will be its last.

Mr Johnson said there are “grounds for confidence” that vaccinations reduce Covid-19’s spread, but said they are awaiting the “hard facts” before setting out the timetable for easing the lockdown.

At last night’s Downing Street press conference he said no decisions had been taken ahead of detailing his “road map” on February 22, and urged people to take any speculation with a “pinch of salt”.

“We want this lockdown to be the last. And we want progress to be cautious but also irreversible,” he said. But, while saying he was “increasingly optimistic” about the possibilities to ease restrictions, the Prime Minister acknowledged he cannot guarantee it is the last lockdown. “I’m very hopeful that we’ll be able to go ahead and open things up, but to say I can give an absolute cast iron guarantee that we won’t face further difficulties and have to think harder and deeper about some problems, no at this stage I can’t,” he said.

He did not completely rule out the prospect of a domestic “vaccine passport”, but suggested mass vaccine coverage and the use of rapid lateral flow testing is the favoured approach to reopen “the toughest nuts to crack” such as nightclubs and theatres.

Mr Johnson stressed infections are still “very high”, the NHS still faces extraordinary pressures, and that, although more than 90% of over-70s had been vaccinated, some 60% of hospital patients with Covid-19 were under that age.

“We have to keep our foot to the floor,” he said, as he called for people to be “optimistic but also patient” about the situation. He said his plan next week would include “as much as we possibly can about the route to normality, even though some things are very uncertain”.

The Prime Minister welcomed an “unprecedented national achievement” of vaccinating 15 million of the most vulnerable people in the UK ahead of the target deadline yesterday.

But he said that now is “no moment to relax” as ministers reviewing coronavirus restrictions in England come under pressure from lockdown-sceptical Tory MPs to commit to a swift reopening.

Earlier, Mr Johnson said no decisions had been made on whether all pupils can return to school at the same time on March 8 after reports suggested a staggered approach may be taken, with secondary schools going back a week later than primaries.

The successful rollout of the vaccine programme is leading to increased pressure from the Covid Recovery Group (CRG) of Conservative MPs to end restrictions quickly.

More than 60 CRG members have signed a letter urging the PM to commit to a firm timetable ending with the lifting of all legal controls by the end of April. Yesterday Mr Johnson was asked whether pupils would return to schools in England all at once or in a phased approach.

“No decisions have been taken on that sort of detail yet, though clearly schools on March 8 has for a long time been a priority of the Government and of families up and down the country,” Mr Johnson told reporters.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the intention is to “start getting kids back to school from March 8”, but was not ruling out that they could be sent back in stages.

Professor Stephen Reicher, a scientist advising the Government’s Covid-19 response, warned that giving dates for lifting restrictions could be damaging if they are not met.

“If things don’t happen on that date then people begin to be hopeless and helpless.”