Government fears loss of lockdown "patience"
POLITICIANS fear the public might lose faith with strict lockdown rules during the coronavirus emergency if they feel the measures are not working in the battle against Covid-19.
Tory party veteran Nick de Bois said it was the reason why, at every daily press conference in London, senior government figures backed by scientists and doctors stressed there was a time lag of 14 to 20 days before people would see the benefits of the move to slow down infections and fatalities.
Nick, the former chief of staff and advisor to Dominic Raab as Secretary of State for Brexit and one time MP for Enfield North, said Boris Johnson had spelled out the “brutal reality” of the crisis things would get worse before they improved.
He was speaking via Skype on Bay Radio, the Jávea-based radio station broadcasting to the Mediterranean coast, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson made history by staging the first ever Cabinet meeting entirely by remote.
Nick - one of the 750,000 people who have volunteered to help out during the crisis along with an army of informal groups - said on Tuesday the latest figures for infection and “sadly” fatalities indicated a slight fall.
“The fear of the government is that people might not appreciate from the minute you start lockdown, you have a period of 14 days and possibly 20 days even, but definitely 14; before you start to see the benefits of lockdown,” he said.
“This goes to the heart of lockdown. Will people lose patience? At the moment most people in this country are buying into lockdown and embracing isolation they are respecting the rules broadly.
“The government fear is this can only hold for so long; but if people don’t believe it’s working and start to interpret the figures like today as proof it’s not working, then there are problems.”
He added: “That’s why at every press conference they are saying ‘we have yet to see the benefits of lockdown. That’s the brutal reality of this; actually the figures are going to get worse before they get better - as Boris Johnson said in his letter to the public.”
Commenting on the death of a 19-year-old in the UK and a 12year-old in Belgium - both with no underlying conditions - Nick said those most at risk were the elderly because they had other medical complications and those with existing preconditions, making them “more vulnerable”.
He added: “The fact that young people are also dying is another reason the country went through a cruel wake-up call; it could strike across the whole population.
“The message has to be we are all at risk here; whether it’s our grandmother or grandchild... that’s why we have to stay at home.”
He said the government needed to ensure frontline workers had the right protective clothing - which was at different levels for different roles; for example a paramedic or someone in intensive care. “On the front line of the NHS, it would be inconceivable anyone should be working without the right gear.”
Nick said there were logistical problems to iron out and small pockets where equipment was still needed while there was a real need to “ramp up” testing.
“The whole resources of government are being thrown at this huge national challenge.”