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LONDON (BLOOMBERG) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised a “comprehensive plan” to lift the blockade that has paralyzed the economy, as he declared that the United Kingdom has already passed the peak of the coronavirus outbreak.
In his first press conference since recovering from Covid-19, Johnson promised to establish details next week on how companies can return to work, suggesting that people will be encouraged to wear face masks as the restrictions.
“For the first time we have passed the peak of this disease,” Johnson said. “We are past the peak and we are on the downward slope.”
The Prime Minister’s words show that the government is paving the way for the closed swaths of the economy to start operating again, amid concerns that millions of people face the loss of their jobs and businesses collapse.
Ministers must review the unprecedented peacetime restrictions on May 7.
“Next week I will establish a comprehensive plan to explain first how we make our economy move, how we can get our children to go back to school, go back to daycare second and third, how we can travel to work, and how we can get there. Life in the workplace is safer, “Johnson said.
“In short, how can we continue to suppress the disease and at the same time restart the economy.”
‘RECUPERATE’
The prime minister, who has not held a press conference since testing positive for coronavirus on March 26, predicted that the economy “will recover strongly,” but he also repeatedly emphasized the need to avoid a second spike in cases of virus that overwhelms the National Health. Service when lifting curbs.
“We have reached the summit, or rather we have reached what could have been a great summit, as if we had passed through a huge alpine tunnel,” Johnson said.
“And now we can see the sunlight and the grass ahead, so it’s vital that now we don’t lose control and run to an even bigger second mountain.”
Official figures released on Thursday (April 30) showed that the total number of deaths in the UK rose to 26,771 from 26,097, 674 more than the previous day.
England’s medical director Chris Whitty warned that while the first phase of the outbreak is drawing to a close, there is “a long way to go” in the fight against the virus.
The prime minister promised a “menu of options” for the blockade, which will be deployed at different times, depending on the development of the outbreak.
FACE MASKS
“As part of getting out of the lockdown, I think face liners will be useful both for epidemiological reasons and to give people confidence that it’s safe to go back to work,” Johnson said.
“We are going to say much more next week and in the coming weeks about how and when we propose to unlock the various parts of the UK economy.”
Speaking on LBC Radio on Friday, Community Secretary Robert Jenrick said the government is taking scientific advice to ease the blockade, which could be done regionally if transmission rates vary across the country, although he said the “strong preference “is for the whole country to move together.
Officials have regularly commented on the benefits of a unified approach.
Jenrick also said that construction and construction companies should resume operations.
The government has announced more than £ 60 billion (S $ 106.61 billion) in direct aid to businesses and individuals to help them weather the pandemic, and offered £ 330 billion in loan guarantees.
The Office of Budgetary Responsibility said Thursday that the government’s response to the virus has cost nearly £ 105 billion in the current fiscal year.
NO AUSTERITY
When asked if the government would need a new period of austerity, including cuts to public services to restore the country’s finances, Johnson rejected the approach.
“I think the economy will recover strongly, I think this government will want to encourage that recovery in all kinds of ways,” he said.
He added that he “never particularly liked” the term “austerity”, saying that “it certainly will not be part of our approach.”
The Treasury is considering allowing companies to claim support from the government licensing program for staff to return to work part-time once the closure measures are eased, the Financial Times reported Friday, citing a person familiar with The issue.
Earlier on Thursday, Johnson’s spokesman, Mr. James Slack, rejected earlier comments by Attorney General Robert Buckland to Sky News that the government is “likely” to miss a target to perform 100,000 coronavirus tests per day. in late April, saying the goal was kept.
Johnson said 81,611 tests were performed Wednesday.
Ministers are being criticized for abandoning tracking and evidence of positive case contacts in March as the infection rate exceeded capacity.
MONITORING AND LOCATION
Now, they are working to develop a program to test tracking and tracing contacts deemed vital to contain the virus as the country emerges from the blockade.
Similar systems are attributed to reducing the spread of the pandemic in countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
Work is underway to recruit 18,000 contact trackers, 15,000 of whom will perform tasks such as telephone staffing and counseling, and 3,000 who will work in the field, Slack said.
The government is also working on developing its contact tracking application, he said.
Another measure being considered is to quarantine arrivals to the United Kingdom, according to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.
He said that at current rates of virus transmission in the UK, such a policy “does not make much of a difference”, but as the number of domestic cases shrinks, it could be a useful policy.
“It’s something that as we get to the smaller numbers and we don’t want to see a repeat of the infection, it’s something that there’s a live discussion about,” Shapps told the BBC question program on Thursday night.
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