PM:We will learn to live with the virus, no more lockdowns
THE UK is to seek out treatments for coronavirus which sufferers can take at home, Boris Johnson has announced. A new Antivirals Taskforce will identify and deploy innovative Covid-19 treatments such as pills or capsules, Boris Johnson has announced.
The aim will be to provide swift treatment if there is another wave of coronavirus in the winter, as the Government predicts there will be.
The announcement came as the prime minister visited the Midlands this week. Mr Johnson was in Wolverhampton on Monday, where he spoke to locals and pulled a pint at the recently reopened Mount Tavern, in Penn Road.
Rather than imposing further lockdowns, the prime minister hopes to find ways that the country can “live with” the virus, through vaccinations and treatment. The Government’s
aim is to have at least two effective treatments this year, either in a tablet or capsule form, that the public can take at home following a positive Covid test or exposure to someone with the virus.
Mr Johnson said: “There will be another wave of Covid at some stage this year and so we must as far as possible learn to live with this disease.”
Treatment could include a tablet
that would stop the virus “in its tracks” to prevent an infected person becoming more seriously ill, Mr Johnson said.
He said the vaccination programme is making “a big difference” and saving lives, but he said there were “now record numbers” of coronavirus cases around the world.
However, he said there was “no reason” to change plans for ending the lockdown, set out in the Government’s
roadmap. Anybody who has previously declined a vaccination was invited to change their minds and take up the offer of a vaccine. Data up to April 19 shows that of the 44 million jabs given in the UK so far, 33 million were first doses. There have been 151,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.