6 MONTHS FOR BRITAIN TO GET BACK TO NORMAL
• Chief medic warns we face long shutdown • Death toll hits 1,228 - up by 209 in 24 hours
BRITONS have been warned normal life will not return for at least six months while the fight to bring the coronavirus crisis under control continues.
Deputy chief medical officer
Jenny Harries said the number of people suffering from the disease will rise in the next few weeks and suggested some form of lockdown will remain in place for half a year. More than 19,500 people have now tested positive for Covid-19 and the death toll reached 1,228, an increase of 209 in 24 hours. A consultant has
become the first frontline NHS hospital worker with the virus to die.
But Amged El-Hawrani, 55, an ear, nose and throat surgeon at the Queen’s Hospital Burton, Staffs, had not been in contact with patients in recent weeks.
Dr Harries said people had taken “quite some time to get used to this new way of living” but there is evidence the country is getting better at social distancing.
Yet she warned the public it would be “dangerous” to suddenly revert to “normal” life if the Government managed to flatten the spread of the virus, saying that it would reverse all the hard work carried out until now.
She explained: “If we stop, all of our efforts will be wasted and we could potentially see a second peak. So over time, probably over the next six months, we will have a three-week review.”.
Dr Harries suggested that, though deaths and infections may rise, some lockdown restrictions will gradually be eased.
Responsible
She added: “We actually anticipate our numbers will get worse over the next week, possibly two, and then we are looking to see whether we have managed to push that curve down and we start to see a decline.
“This is not to say we would be in complete lockdown for six months. But as a nation, we have to be really, really responsible and keep doing what we’re all doing until we’re sure we can gradually start lifting various interventions.
“These are likely to be spaced – based on the science and our data – until we gradually come back to a normal way of living.”
More than 712,000 cases of coronavirus have been recorded worldwide and the death toll tops 33,000.
The US is currently reporting more than 124,000 cases and more than 2,100 deaths but infection disease officials believe it will have “millions of cases” of Covid-19 and more than
100,000 deaths.
Spain revealed it has hit a new daily record for deaths, with 844 fatalities at the weekend for a total last night of 6,606, the world’s second-highest death count behind Italy.
In the UK, a total of 127,737 people had been tested for Covid-19 by 9am yesterday with 19,522 positive results, according to the Department of Health. Police around the country are continuing to try to enforce lockdown guidelines, breaking up impromptu football games, sending home day trippers and closing businesses that have defied the orders. Cabinet minister Michael Gove said yesterday the UK’s latest infection figures “remind us how important it is to maintain the social distancing rules” and warned the public to prepare for a “significant period” of lockdown.
He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr: “Everyone is making a sacrifice and I appreciate the scale of that sacrifice.
“But the reason all of us are making these sacrifices is because all of us will have people whom we love who are at risk from this virus.
“I can’t make an accurate prediction, but everyone does have to prepare for a significant period when these measures are still in place.”
Letters from Boris Johnson warning the public the crisis will get worse before it gets better will land on door
steps this week.The Prime Minister said he “will not hesitate to go further” if that is what the scientific and medical advice recommends.
Mr Gove refused to say what steps could be taken next.
He said: “It is always the case that Government stands ready, if necessary, to do whatever it takes in order to reduce the spread of the infection.
“At the moment, all the evidence is that people are observing the rules. If you look at the number of people on public transport, that has fallen. If you look at footfall in supermarkets and other stores, that has fallen as well.
“We keep things under review in order to ensure that if there are further steps needed they can then be implemented.”
The Government revealed that 750,000 public spirited citizens have now signed up as volunteers to help others through the crisis.
Ministers had appealed last Tuesday for just 250,000 to come forward and recruitment has now been put on hold to allow applications to be processed.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said all parts of the country “from Cornwall to Cumbria” are now on an “emergency footing”. Each area now has a Strategic Command Centre, where military planners are working with senior members of the emergency services and local authorities to help communities deal with the challenges of the pandemic.
Mr Jenrick added: “This is an unprecedented step in peace time, we haven’t done anything like this since the Second World War.
“This means that we are establishing coordination centres across the whole country.” Millions of items of personal protective equipment are also now being delivered to NHS staff.
The Government has established a “national supply distribution response team” to deliver PPE to those in need, supported by the Armed Forces and other emergency services.
Some 170 million masks and almost 10 million items of cleaning equipment are among the items being delivered to NHS trusts and healthcare settings.
Mr Jenrick said: “We simply cannot and should not ask people to be on the frontline without the right protective equipment.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock, self-isolating after testing positive for Covid-19, called the PM’s letter to households “vital reading”.
On Twitter, he said: “It’s a clear explanation of why we’ve had to take the steps that we have.
“The best thing to do, of course, is to stay at home unless there’s very good reason not to.
“And also some of the things that we’re doing to support people to make sure that everybody gets through this as well as possible.”
‘The evidence is that people are observing the rules’
ATHREAT on the scale of the pandemic was always likely to bring out the best – and the worst – in people.The number of selfless individuals who have volunteered so quickly to help the NHS combat Covid-19 has been quite remarkable.
Add those 750,000 to the heroes of the NHS and the care sector already battling the virus, and to the thousands of retired doctors and nurses returning to the service – at no little risk to themselves – and it is truly humbling.
The first tragic deaths among NHS staff certainly highlight their courage.
Count in the police enforcing the lockdown, the council workers, the voluntary groups on standby to support the emergency services and those who have answered the call to help fit out and staff the new Nightingale hospitals and it fills your heart with pride at the indomitable British spirit.
But of course, there are also those who make your heart sink...
The families holding a karaoke party that had to be broken up by police; the parents with no idea where their children are gathering; the panic buyers now throwing away food they bought through sheer greed and selfishness and found they could not eat; the day trippers who behave as if this emergency were a national holiday.
No wonder Boris Johnson has hinted that tougher rules might be needed.What is it about this virus, and the clear instructions to stay home and practise social distancing, that those people don’t understand?
They are, thankfully, hugely outnumbered by the responsible, thoughtful majority. Up and down the country people are coming together as safely as possible – by phone and by internet – to offer help to their neighbours and to look out for the elderly and the vulnerable around them.
We are rediscovering a sense of community many thought had been lost and one that will hopefully endure long after the pandemic has passed.
The time when we can look back on this crisis, however, is still a long way off.
We face a “significant period” in lockdown and, as the Prime Minister has made clear in his letter to us all, things will sadly get worse before they get better.
Too many families have already suffered heartbreak, and many more will undoubtedly do so before we see the light at the end of this very dark tunnel.
But with so many inspirational people in our midst; so many offering their help for the sake of others, we will beat this thing.
The rest of us can all be heroes too – without lifting a finger (other than to wash our hands).
Be a life-saver. Continue to stay at home.