TOPLINE
U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson returned to work on Monday after recovering from a severe bout of coronavirus, but urged British businesses to “contain their impatience” as he warned lockdown restrictions must remain to prevent a more damaging second spike.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks in Downing Street as he returns to work following his recovery … [+]
KEY FACTS
Johnson addressed the U.K. on Monday morning as he returned after three weeks of severe illness and a stint in intensive care, battling coronavirus.
After praising the resolve of the nation, he warned that now was a moment of “maximum risk” as social distancing starts to take its toll and businesses and workers weigh up the cost of closure.
Johnson said: “Let me say now directly to British businesses. To shopkeepers, to the entrepreneurs, to the hospitality sector, to everyone on whom our economy depends: I understand your impatience, I share your anxiety…And yet, we must also recognise the risk of a second spike. Of losing control of the virus.”
He warned that a second spike could trigger a new wave of death and disease, and economic disaster as restrictions would have to be reimposed, and could cause more damage.
But he added that a transition into phase two—a gradual lifting of economic and social restrictions—would not begin until deaths and infections were down, testing increased, and the U.K. is able to get more protective equipment for healthcare workers.
The British government has so far fallen short of its target to test 100,000 people a day, which it had set for the end of April.
Key background
Like many European nations, the U.K. is battling its biggest crisis since World War Two. Leading scientific experts, including medical researcher Sir Jeremy Farrar, have warned that the U.K. is on track to become the worst hit country in Europe as the number of deaths being recorded each day remains higher than hard-hit countries such as Spain and Italy. The government is counting only hospital deaths in its daily figures, but that number is significantly higher when deaths in nursing homes, hospices and at home are included.
Johnson was slow to order businesses to close and people to stay at home, but eventually activated a lockdown on March 23, after a projection from Imperial College London suggested that a partial lockdown would still result in hundreds of thousands of deaths. But the government’s delay has been exacerbated by a shortfall in testing and a lack of PPE for frontline staff. Despite calls from the opposition, the government has so far refused to detail its exit plan from the lockdown.
Crucial quote
Johnson said: “I want to get the economy moving as fast as I can, but I refuse to throw away all the effort and the sacrifice of the British people and to risk a second major outbreak, huge loss of life, and the overwhelming of the NHS. I ask you to contain your impatience because I believe we are coming to the end of the first phase of this conflict.”
As of Monday, the U.K. has counted 154,000 infections and nearly 21,000 deaths linked to coronavirus.
Further reading
U.K. Leadership Faces Questions As Prime Minister Boris Johnson Receives Oxygen Support (Forbes)
Britain’s Bold Bet To Protect Jobs From Coronavirus Could Cost $50 Billion (Forbes)
Boris Johnson Announces Unprecedented 3-Week Lockdown Of The Entire United Kingdom (Forbes)
