Government must plan to contain a second wave of virus, Blair warns

CORONAVIRUS WILL not be eliminated and Britons must learn to live with it, Tony Blair has warned as he urged the Government to focus on containment measures to see the country through a second wave.

The former Prime Minister said infrastructure to stop the spread of the virus was critical as another national lockdown would not be possible, suggesting that people instead need to learn to live safely with the virus.

Mr Blair described the crisis as “the biggest challenge logistically and practically” a government has faced, but criticised Ministers

for not yet putting in place an “infrastructure of containment”.

He said: “The reality is that we’re going to be living with Covid-19 – we’re not really going to be able to eliminate it.

“And when you look at what has been happening in other countries, as lockdown has been eased, then more and more problems have appeared and many countries, having gone into lockdown then easing it, are finding spikes in the disease.

“You can’t be sure of this but there’s at least a 50/50 chance that you have a resurgence of the disease in the autumn and that’s why it is absolutely essential now to prepare for that.”

A new report by his think-tank, the Tony Blair Institute, calls for public confidence to be rebuilt “on the knowledge that every possible step has been taken to mitigate risk” – requiring containment measures in the absence of a “game changer” vaccine or treatment.

It recommends the rollout of mass testing and mandated use of face masks in all enclosed public environments.

The study also suggests introducing an individual risk categorisation – with an A grade showing those most at risk, to people with low health risks and a low transmission risk ranked in a category D.