‘Let’s not blow it,’ says PM as Covid restrictions are eased

BORIS Johnson has urged the public not to “blow” the progress made in tackling coronavirus when lockdown restrictions are eased this weekend.

The Prime Minister said he hoped the reopening of pubs, restaurants and hairdressers in England on Saturday would allow people to enjoy themselves, but in a “safe way”.

Mr Johnson said the Government was making “progress” in reducing the incidence of Covid-19 in England, but faced questions on why pubs were being opened on a Saturday, which typically sees a higher rate of alcoholrelated issues for police and the NHS.

In an interview with LBC Radio, the PM was asked whether he only “hoped” it would be safe. He said: “It’s not on hope, it’s based on a clear understanding of the statistical risks that we now face as a country.

“We’ve progressed thanks to the efforts of the British people from an incidence of the disease at about one in 400 a few weeks ago to maybe one in 2,200 today.

“You’re appreciably less likely now to be in close proximity to someone who has it than you were even a couple of weeks ago.

“We’re making progress, we aimed for July the 4th, we wanted to set ourselves a target, we think we’re in good shape but my message is let’s not blow it.”

Labour’s shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds backed the return to pubs as a boost for the economy, as she called on the Government to adopt a “targeted strategy” in extending the furlough scheme to avoid a “flood of redundancy notices”.

“I hope people will be going out to make use of those new opportunities to support local businesses but of course we all need to make sure ... that we are following those guidelines at all times,” she said.

In other developments:

■ Mr Johnson said gyms would be able to reopen in a “couple of weeks”, and vowed to try to get theatres going “as fast as we possibly can”.

■ The Prime Minister urged people to wear face coverings when in confined spaces with people they do not normally see, revealing he has one with a Florence Nightingale pattern.

■ The Office for National Statistics said almost 20,000 care home residents have died with coronavirus up to June 12.

Mr Johnson said there had been “far too many lives lost in care homes” and that the Government would “go over and look at” whether an earlier lockdown could have prevented some deaths.

He disputed claims that people were pushed into care homes from the NHS to make space in hospitals, saying that numbers of people going into care homes fell by 40% from January to March.

“Every decision to move people out of the beds in the NHS was taken on a clinical basis and not in any way intended to endanger the care homes,” he said.