Lockdown to stay until care homes ‘epidemic’ is ended
Johnson’s new pledge on testing as national unity ends
BORIS JOHNSON warned last night that the UK lockdown will remain in place until the Covid-19 “epidemic” in care homes is under control.
The Prime Minister also reiterated the need for “world-beating” testing as he set out a conditional three-point “road map” to “reopen society” once the pandemic is brought under greater control.
But there was no date from Mr Johnson on when it will be safe for families separated by the virus to be reunited after confirming that “it is not the time simply to end the lockdown this week”.
He also made a direct appeal for national unity after the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland’s said that the Government’s new ‘stay alert, control the virus, save lives’ message was too vague.
They all said that they would be reiterating the ‘stay at home’ mantra that has been in place since Mr Johnson first addressed the nation seven weeks ago and put the shutdown in place.
Mr Johnson, who described the virus as “the most vicious threat this country has faced in my lifetime”, will set out his plans in more detail to Parliament today after another 269 deaths took the UK-wide death toll to 31,855. This was, however, the lowest daily increase since March 29.
The PM did say rules on outdoor activity will be relaxed from Wednesday, but that people will face tougher fines if they flout social distancing rules.
He hopes that some shops, and primary schools, will be able to reopen by June 1 “at the earliest” and that this could be extended,
in phase three, to parts of the hospitality industry from July if the re-infection rate falls still further.
“We will be driven not by mere hope or economic necessity. We are going to be driven by the science, the data and public health,” he vowed.
“We must reverse rapidly the awful epidemics in care homes and in the NHS, and though the numbers are coming down sharply now, there is plainly much more to be done.
“And if we are to control this virus, then we must have a worldbeating system for testing potential victims, and for tracing their contacts.”
This was a tacit admission that the Government’s target to test at least 100,000 people a day for the virus by the end of April has not been successful. No mention was made of Mr Johnson’s desire for 200,000 daily tests.
However the PM said the Government’s new protocols will be able to “detect local flare-ups” as he set out the first tentative proposals to assist employers as Britain faces up to the deepest recession in history.
“We now need to stress that anyone who can’t work from home, for instance those in construction or manufacturing, should be actively encouraged to go to work,” he added.