What next for schools, sports and business after PM hits the brakes?

TGovernment’s Chief Medical Officer indicated the country had reached the limit of what could be reopened safely.

With Boris Johnson postponing today’s reopening of venues such as bowling alleys, theatres and casinos, the road map for easing outstanding lockdown measures now looks uncertain. Speaking alongside the Prime Minister at the Downing Street press conference, Prof Chris Whitty also suggested that the UK may have to “pull back” further to keep the virus under control.

Asked if schools could still reopen in September as planned, he told reporters: “I think what we’re seeing from the data from the Office for National Statistics and other data is that we have probably reached near the limit or the limits of what we can do in terms of opening up society.

“So what that means potentially is that if we wish to do more things in the future, we may have to do less of some other things. We are at the outer edge of what we can do and therefore choices are going to be made.”

However, Prof Whitty said he agreed with Mr Johnson that reopening schools was a “national priority”, suggesting that the trade-offs will mean some lockdown rules being reversed or delayed further.

They include the resumption of spectator sport and business conferences, which are pencilled in for Oct 1. While the Government announced on July 17 that pilots would be launched to determine whether they could be reopened the decision to cancel these yesterday suggests a delay could now be inevitable.

This is likely to have a knock-on effect on Mr Johnson’s ambition to hold a review of all remaining lockdown measures in November.

Government sources have previously suggested that spectator sport would be a key litmus test for determining whether a complete cessation of social distancing rules could be done safely.

On Wednesday, Oliver Dowden, the Culture Secretary, also raised hopes that theatres and indoor music venues may be able to return to full capacity in time for Christmas.

But the last-minute decision to postpone the resumption of indoor performances today suggests this time frame could now be unrealistic.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph earlier this week, Government insiders suggested that theatres were a second order priority to Mr Johnson’s central aim of reopening schools. However, a Whitehall source said the return of all pupils would use up too many points from the so-called “R bank” − a calculation used to determine the impact the lockdown is having on the national infection rate.

Prof Whitty also suggested that the Government may have gone too far in easing lockdown measures, telling reporters that “we may have to pull back a bit to keep this under control”. His comments suggest ministers could be forced to reimplement more draconian measures on social interactions as seen in the North West.

Defending the decision to pause the road map yesterday, Mr Johnson said: “We’re now seeing a warning light on the dashboard. It is right to respond in the way that we are.”