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Ministers in the closure war: frustration grows in the cabinet over whether to lift the closure in May or wait until the summer
- A time period is now being contested in the UK lockdown window.
- Ministers must decide if restrictions should be lifted in May or in summer
- Block could be lifted after latest extension in three weeks
- There are real concerns regarding a possible second peak in COVID-19 cases.
Ministers have doubts about whether to lift the blockade in early May or wait until the summer.
Frustration is mounting in the Cabinet over the lack of debate on the issue as damage to the economy increases. On Friday night, it emerged that ministers are considering two possible strategies, which are being discussed by their scientific advisers.
The first involves extending the full blockade until early summer to “lower the numbers,” although this would risk further damaging the economy.
The second could see the restrictions lifted much earlier, possibly after the current three-week extension expires on May 8, although it could risk a second “spike” virus.
Ministers are now exploring the possibilities of a closing deadline, after Dominic Raab announced a three-week extension to the UK on Thursday.
It came when a minister warned companies that they would have to adapt to a “new normal” after the crisis has passed. This led to restrictions being able to continue until a vaccine is ready or even later, with more work from home and possible staggered work to try to reduce the impact of rush hour.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced Thursday that the blockade would continue for another three weeks, as he revealed five pieces of evidence that ministers would use before deciding whether it is safe to lift the restrictions.
Some ministers are believed to be unhappy that there has not been an adequate debate in the Cabinet on when the closure could end.
On Friday, Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps said departments had been asked to submit exit proposals in two weeks. The government was forced to deny Labor claims that it was in “limbo” while Boris Johnson recovered from the virus.
Although the Prime Minister spoke to Raab on Thursday, he has not been working on his government boxes. Scientists say extending the closure to the summer would dramatically reduce transmission rates and the “extremely low” level of cases would make it easier for health officials to manage the pandemic.
On Friday, Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps said departments had been asked to submit exit proposals in two weeks.
A man wears a face mask while waiting for a train at Victoria tube station on April 17, as London continues an extended period of confinement
Business Secretary Alok Sharma told the Confederation of British Industry: “We have to accept that there will be a new normal.”
This is because they would have the ability to isolate anyone who tests positive, as well as trace and test their contacts.
However, such an approach would mean that the economy would remain stagnant. The second option could see the lock lift in as little as three weeks. But the community transmission rate would still be relatively high at this point, and it would not be possible to individually trace all cases.
This could risk a dangerous resurgence of the disease. A source close to the government confirmed that, whatever option is followed, the plan is to lift the closure in stages, with outdoor spaces that are probably the first and the last pubs.
Under plans being drawn up, certain social distancing measures, including working from home whenever possible, will remain in effect until there is a vaccine. Some experts believe this is at least a year away.
Experts advising the government have warned that they are skeptical of the role that a highly publicized NHS application could play in helping to end the coronavirus blockade. It would allow mobile phones to track users who have come into contact with infected people, alerting them to be tested.
Medical Director Chris Whitty (left), Foreign Secretary Mr. Raab and Chief Scientific Advisor Sir Patrick Vallance (right) transmitted the latest updates during a Downing Street briefing
But scientists say that at least 80 percent of the population would need to download the app for it to be effective, which is extremely unlikely. Shapps said the pandemic could end rush hour as companies and governments move toward staggered shifts and remote work.
He told the BBC Today show: Probably The world will probably never be the way it was before in a completely different way. “In the future, companies may say,” It has actually worked very well for some of our employees to work from remote locations. Why don’t we continue to do that? ”
Business Secretary Alok Sharma told the Confederation of British Industry: ‘We have to accept that there will be a new normal.
“At the level at which social distancing will continue, you can have a discussion about it, but clearly we are not going to go back to how it was before this pandemic.”
