Covid: PM has ‘lost control of virus’, says labor leader

Boris Johnson’s government has “lost control” of the coronavirus, the opposition leader has said.

Speaking to the Observer, Sir Keir Starmer accused the prime minister of “serial incompetence” over the virus.

He has asked ministers to establish a new “roadmap” to deal with Covid-19 until a vaccine is rolled out.

A Downing Street spokesman said the prime minister had already put in place “a package of measures” that could be in place for the next six months.

The package “balances the need to suppress the virus while protecting the NHS, keeping children in schools and keeping the economy moving during what will be a challenging winter,” the spokesperson added.

In an extensive interview, the Labor leader presented a five-point plan to combat rising infection rates.

The proposals urge the government to:

• Follow Germany by publishing the criteria the government uses to decide when local restrictions are introduced and when they can be lifted.
• improve public health messages by expanding the NHS Covid-19 app so people can type in their zip code and get a summary of restrictions that apply to them in their area
• invest in NHS labs and university labs to scale up testing and put local public health teams in charge of contact tracing in their areas
• Ensure regular routine testing for all high-risk workplaces and high transmission areas with a guarantee of results within 24 hours to improve infection control, including for NHS staff and caregivers
• outline a program to ensure the manufacture and distribution of any resulting vaccine

Sir Keir said the prime minister was guilty of “ruling in hindsight” as he stepped up his attack on the government’s handling of the pandemic.

The choice of words echoes Johnson’s own frequent criticism of Sir Keir during the prime minister’s questions, having labeled him “Captain Hindsight” for criticizing the government’s actions.

The Labor leader, who was elected in April, added: “I think they have lost control of the virus.

“And I don’t want death rates to go up. Nobody does.

“But this is serial incompetence.”

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Sir Keir blames divisions at the top of the government and says local health officials should have been more involved in fighting the outbreaks, according to the newspaper.

Speaking of his plans to return Labor to power after four electoral defeats, Sir Keir said: “We have a mountain to climb.”

But he said he is dividing his leadership into “phases”, and that the next six months will involve answering the question: “What is our positive vision for the country?”

He added: “This is going to take four years. And we are going to have to be in this every day, every week, every month for the four years.”

The Labor leader’s comments come as one in three people in the UK now live under tougher social restrictions.

Merseyside became the latest area to enter a local lockdown on Saturday. Similar restrictions were also applied in Warrington, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough to cope with the spread of the disease.

On Saturday, the UK announced another 12,872 new coronavirus cases and reported that a further 49 people died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.

Meanwhile, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), which advises the UK government, says it is still “very likely” that the epidemic is growing exponentially across the country.

His latest estimate of the R number, which indicates how fast the epidemic is growing or decreasing, rose to between 1.3 and 1.6.