Johnson aims to calm nation’s fears as he prepares to unveil ‘new normal’
Social distancing and hygiene rules in workplaces, as well as face masks, could be the key to getting Britain back to work and school
IT WAS a seemingly innocuous comment that appeared to simply confirm speculation that the Government would ask members of the public to begin wearing face coverings in some settings.
But Boris Johnson’s remark on Thursday that such devices could be required both for “epidemiological reasons” and to give “people confidence that they can go back to work”, hinted at a major hurdle that he was aware could scupper his attempts to gradually ease some lockdown restrictions.
Despite a clamour by many MPs and business leaders, as an ORB International poll highlights today, the public appears to overwhelmingly fear the idea of lifting the current measures too quickly – seemingly sharing the Prime Minister’s own concern, revealed in this newspaper last month, about the possibility of a “second peak” of infections and a second lockdown.
Of 2,082 people surveyed last week, 75 per cent disagreed that the Government should move more quickly to lift the current restrictions so that the economy “can fire up again”. Only 16 per cent wanted the Government to speed up its plans.
The survey highlights one of the central difficulties facing Mr Johnson as the second formal review of the measures approaches this week.
The Prime Minister is now expected to deliver an address to the nation next Sunday to unveil a “roadmap” setting out how he intends to “unlock the various parts of the UK economy”.
Measures will be intended to encourage those already permitted to work to return to construction sites and factories in the knowledge that they would do so under strict guidelines on social distancing and hygiene.
While the Government had said since March that those who could not work from home could continue to travel to their workplace, many construction sites and factories closed for a multitude of reasons, including the success of the “stay at home” messaging, which The Sunday Telegraph revealed last week is being reworked for
“phase two”. The Treasury and business department have been in talks with firms about drawing up guidelines laying out how workplaces can operate safely, with proposals including wider walkways on building sites and the provision of hand sanitiser dispensers. Office workers who can work from home are expected to be asked to continue doing so for the time being.
Last week senior civil servants sounded out business leaders about the prospect of having regular testing of asymptomatic staff in workplaces as part of the Government’s “track and trace” strategy to detect and isolate any Covid-positive workers.
Mr Johnson is also expected to announce plans to reopen more public spaces, with social distancing in place.
Today, Andrew Griffith, the MP for Arundel and South Downs and Mr Johnson’s former business adviser, warns that “every additional day the phone rings unanswered in ‘lockdown’ Britain is an order lost to an overseas competitor whose own economy is open for business”.
Mr Griffith’s concerns are shared by many MPs who are becoming increasingly alarmed by conversations with business leaders and owners of firms in their constituencies, who warn that their companies are on the brink of collapse, as a result of restrictions on their ability to trade.
Senior figures in government are also acutely aware of the effect that the current measures are having on society. Last week, a new forecast showed that nearly 20,000 more patients could die from cancer in the next year because of a lack of treatment.
The balance between such tragedies, and the need to ensure sufficient capacity for Covid-19 patients, is being carefully weighed up by a new Cabinet Office unit producing modelling to inform the decisions of Mr Johnson and the “quad” of senior ministers with whom he is making key decisions: Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, and Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary. The quad was due to meet last night to discuss the roadmap.
Any easing of the current measures will be linked to careful measurement of the Covid-19 transmission rate – the “R” number. Last week the Government announced that the number was below one for the whole country, meaning the virus was in retreat. Mr Johnson has been told that it is “vital” to keep the “R” below one in order to prevent a major second peak.
By sharing such data with the public, ministers hope that workers will be able to buy into the logic of their being able to return to their roles with the risk of infection significantly lower than before.
Any modifications to restrictions will have to be those which ministers, based on advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), believe will not significantly affect the “R”. Crucially, ministers are waiting for new data from the Office for National Statistics, which is carrying out work to track coronavirus in the population. It is expected to report some findings to the Government this weekend, with more details later in the week.
Based on the current understanding of the “R”, ministers are planning to reopen primary schools on June 1.
At the forefront of Mr Johnson’s mind is the need to give members of the public the confidence to start leaving their homes to work and take their children to school where they are advised that they can do so – an issue touched on by Isaac Levido, the Australian strategist, during a Cabinet meeting last week.
Ministers fear that attempts to reopen schools and businesses could fail if the public remains too fearful of the risk of infection.
Mr Johnson’s roadmap is likely to be laced with measures intended to instil confidence in the public that they can, and their children can, feel safe to emerge from their homes when they are invited to do so.
As he indicated last week, this is likely to include the use of face coverings, despite limited evidence of their preventing the spreading of infection.
“As part of coming out of the lockdown, I do think face coverings will be useful,” Mr Johnson said on Thursday.
“Both for epidemiological reasons but, also, for giving people confidence that they can go back to work.”
Despite criticism of the Government’s handling of aspects of the pandemic, public approval of its response rose slightly to 55 per cent last week. An international comparison of polls last month showed that the equivalent figure in France was 35 per cent and in Japan, just 19 per cent.
Interventions that have appeared critical of the pace at which the Government is preparing to ease the current restrictions have been encouraged as “helpful” by some of those involved in developing the next steps.
‘Every additional day the phone rings unanswered in “lockdown” Britain is an order lost to an overseas competitor’