By Ben Kerrigan-
UK prime minister, Boris Johnson told the British public in a televised address on Sunday that his government will not be driven by hope or economic necessity, but by the science, data, and pubic health.
In his long awaited speech to the country since coming out of hospital, mr. Johnson reflected on the restriction to the movement of the British people for the past two months. Touching on the hardship of the programme of social distancing, he insisted that continued social distancing was the only way to beat the most vicious threat the Uk has faced in decades. Without that, Britain could have suffered a catastrophe of half a million fatalities, mr,Johnson said.
”We must stay alert. We must continue to control the virus and save lives. And yet we must also recognise that this campaign against the virus has come at a colossal cost to our way of life. We can see it all around us in the shuttered shops and abandoned businesses and darkened pubs and restaurants.
Addressing the impact of ”’this long period of enforced inactivity” will do to the livelihoods’ of several members of the public and their mental and physical well being, he provided the first sketch of a road map for reopening society.
”I have consulted across the political spectrum, across all four nations of the UK. And though different parts of the country are experiencing the pandemic at different rates, and though it is right to be flexible in our response, I believe that as prime minister of the United Kingdom – Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland – there is a strong resolve to defeat this together. And today a general consensus on what we could do. And I stress “could”. Because although we have a plan, it is a conditional plan. And since our priority is to protect the public and save lives, we cannot move forward unless we satisfy the five tests.
Clarifying the conditions in which schools and shops would reopen, Mr Johnson said: “Throughout this period of the next two months we will be driven not by mere hope or economic necessity.
“We are going to be driven by the science, the data and public health.
“And I must stress again all of this is conditional, it all depends on a series of big ifs.”
And that Covid alert level will be determined primarily by R and the number of coronavirus cases. And in turn that Covid alert level will tell us how tough we have to be in our social distancing measures – the lower the level, the fewer the measures; the higher the level, the tougher and stricter we will have to be.
There will be five alert levels. Level one means the disease is no longer present in the UK and level five is the most critical – the kind of situation we could have had if the NHS had been overwhelmed.
Over the period of the lockdown, we have been in level four, and it is thanks to your sacrifice we are now in a position to begin to move in steps to level three.
And as we go, everyone will have a role to play in keeping the R down. By staying alert and following the rules. And to keep pushing the number of infections down, there are two more things we must do.
We must reverse rapidly the awful epidemics in care homes and in the NHS, and though the numbers are coming down sharply now, there is plainly much more to be done.
And if we are to control this virus, then we must have a world-beating system for testing potential victims, and for tracing their contacts. So that – all told – we are testing literally hundreds of thousands of people every day.
With every day we are getting more and more data. We are shining the light of science on this invisible killer, and we will pick it up where it strikes, because our new system will be able in time to detect local flare-ups – in your area – as well as giving us a national picture.
And yet when I look at where we are tonight, we have the R below one, between 0.5 and 0.9 – but potentially only just below one. And though we have made progress in satisfying at least some of the conditions I have given, we have by no means fulfilled all of them”
Careful Steps
Speaking of taking the first careful steps to modify our measures, the prime minister urged the public to ”work from home if you can, and only go to work if you must”.
”We now need to stress that anyone who can’t work from home, for instance those in construction or manufacturing, should be actively encouraged to go to work.
And we want it to be safe for you to get to work. So you should avoid public transport if at all possible – because we must and will maintain social distancing, and capacity will therefore be limited.
So work from home if you can, but you should go to work if you can’t work from home.And to ensure you are safe at work we have been working to establish new guidance for employers to make workplaces COVID-secure.
And when you do go to work, if possible do so by car or even better by walking or bicycle. But just as with workplaces, public transport operators will also be following COVID-secure standards.
And from this Wednesday, we want to encourage people to take more and even unlimited amounts of outdoor exercise.
You can sit in the sun in your local park, you can drive to other destinations, you can even play sports but only with members of your own household”.
‘You must obey the rules on social distancing and to enforce those rules we will increase the fines for the small minority who break them.And so every day, with ever increasing data, we will be monitoring the R and the number of new infections, and the progress we are making, and if we as a nation begin to fulfil the conditions I have set out, then in the next few weeks and months we may be able to go further.
Step 2
”In step two – at the earliest by June 1 – after half term – we believe we may be in a position to begin the phased reopening of shops and to get primary pupils back into schools, in stages, beginning with reception, Year 1 and Year 6.
Our ambition is that secondary pupils facing exams next year will get at least some time with their teachers before the holidays. And we will shortly be setting out detailed guidance on how to make it work in schools and shops and on transport.
The reaction from headteachers was somewhat negative.Paul Whiteman, from the NAHT headteachers’ union, said: “We now know a little more about what the government’s ambition is for schools. However, without explanation of why or how such a return is considered to be safe, tonight’s announcement will not pass the ‘confidence test’, with parents or school leaders.
“As things stand, there is no prospect of more pupils in schools until June 1st at the earliest. That, at least, gives the government a small window of time to explain the basis of its decision and what it will do to mitigate the risks. It is essential that this happens in collaboration with the profession.”