MANY LOVED ONES WILL DIE SAYS PM
Families given chilling warning as virus tightens grip on UK
BORIS Johnson last night warned that many people in Britain will ‘lose loved ones before their time’ as coronavirus grips the country.
At a sombre press conference in Downing Street, the Prime Minister said the outbreak was the country’s ‘worst public health crisis for a generation’.
The Government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said up to 10,000 people in the UK may already have the virus – almost 20 times the official figure of 590.
Sir Patrick said the course of the outbreak appeared to be four weeks behind the disease in Italy, where the death toll has passed 1,000 and shows no sign of slowing.
In one of the bleakest messages delivered by any modern Prime Minister, Mr Johnson told the nation: ‘I must level with you, level with the British public – many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time.’
Last night, it emerged that a team of military planners has been despatched across the country to help coordinate local efforts to
cope with the crisis. One government adviser warned the battle to defeat the virus, which is set to last months, would come to be remembered in the same way as the Blitz.
Ministers have formally switched efforts from a strategy of trying to contain its spread to one of attempting to delay its peak to reduce pressure on the NHS.
The PM’s address came as Nicola Sturgeon announced sporting events, concerts and other large gatherings will be banned in Scotland from Monday.
A spike in coronavirus cases north of the Border prompted the First Minister to ban all gatherings of 500 or more people which require police or ambulance attendance.
This puts the entire Scottish football season in doubt and threatens other sports matches, festivals, concerts, conferences and rallies.
Elderly people are being urged to stay at home as much as possible to cut the risk of catching the virus. Anyone with even mild symptoms is being advised to stay at home for at least seven days.
The number of confirmed cases in Scotland soared from 36 to 60 yesterday. Across the UK, there are now 596 confirmed cases and the death toll has risen to ten. As Scotland faces a near lockdown amid continuing havoc across the globe:
▪ The World Health Organisation labelled the outbreak a global pandemic;
▪ The United States imposed a ban on visitors from mainland Europe;
▪ Ireland announced it will close all schools, colleges and public facilities;
▪ The Italian government forced all shops except food stores and pharmacies to close;
▪ UEFA announced an emergency meeting will be held on Tuesday to discuss postponing Euro2020;
▪ A series of high-profile events were cancelled across the UK, including concerts, party conferences and business gatherings;
▪ The FTSE plunged more than 10 per cent in response to the chaos.
After an emergency Cobra meeting chaired by Boris Johnson, Miss Sturgeon said she had taken the decision to ban all public gatherings of more than 500 people which need to have police and ambulance crews in attendance.
‘This is not a move that we are making because the science has told us it will have a significant impact on the spread of the virus,’ she said. ‘On the contrary, the scientists tell us it will not have a significant impact.’
But in addition to the ‘consistency of public messaging’, Miss Sturgeon said the most important reason was to not put unnecessary strain on frontline emergency services.
She said: ‘Our health services in particular will be under acute pressure in the weeks and months to come and I think it is incumbent on government to do what we can to remove unnecessary burdens.’
Despite a ‘four nation’ approach to coronavirus, Miss Sturgeon faced criticism for pre-empting the UK Cobra announcement by speaking more than an hour ahead of Mr Johnson’s statement.
In the press conference at Downing Street, Mr Johnson explained he had not yet decided to ban large events, but on Scotland he added: ‘They do have an issue with the resilience of their public services.’
He added: ‘We are not saying no to that sort of measure, of course not. We are keeping it up our sleeves. But it is very important… that we get the timing right.’ He warned whole families will need to go into quarantine if just one member has a temperature or a cough.
The peak of the outbreak in the UK might not come for ten to 14 weeks, the experts said, suggesting it will run into June.
Miss Sturgeon said there will now be ‘significant changes to people’s day to day experience’. She added: ‘The advice we are giving from tomorrow is if you have symptoms, you should self-isolate for seven days – specifically a fever or a persistent cough. We will not be routinely testing everyone with symptoms. We will continue to do surveillance and sample testing.’
UK Government advice is that those with symptoms should keep 6.5ft from others, even at home, and sleep alone.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack advised the elderly and vulnerable to stay at home as much as possible. On BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland, he said: ‘If you are elderly, please keep yourself as contained as you possibly can, or if you have underlying pre-existing health conditions, particularly lung conditions. What we are trying to do is to take the pressure off the NHS and to protect people’s lives.’