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The coronavirus pandemic “will be bumpy until Christmas” and potentially beyond that, Boris Johnson warned, as he said it is “too early to tell” if local closures are working.
The prime minister acknowledged that there will be some members of the public who will be “furious with me” and “furious with the government” amid continued COVID-19 restrictions.
“I have to tell you in all honesty that it will continue to have bumps until Christmas, there may even be bumps beyond,” he said in an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.
Boris Johnson said he believes the “scientific equation” surrounding the virus will change in the coming weeks and months.
“But this is the only way to do it.”
Johnson said the government was “working hard” to allow for an easing of coronavirus Time constraints for the holiday period, but again he warned: “Have no doubt that it is still quite possible that there are hectic and hectic months ahead.
“This could be a very harsh winter for all of us, we have to face that fact.”
In an attempt to offer some optimism, the prime minister said he believes “very strongly” that the “scientific equation” surrounding the virus will change in the coming weeks and months and “we will start to see progress, either in vaccines or in tests, which will allow us to take a different approach. “
He said it is a “possibility” that there is “significant progress” in a vaccine this year, but that he does not “want to make people have unnecessary illusions.”
On local closures, Johnson was asked specifically about Oldham, which has seen its infection rate double despite being under tighter restrictions over the past six weeks.
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The prime minister told the BBC’s Andrew Marr program: “The advice we are getting is that in these areas where we have strict local closures, we have to wait and see if the R number starts to go down.”
His interview came later government figures showed There were another 12,872 laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the UK at 9am on Saturday.
A technical problem may mean that the actual daily figure is somewhat lower.
Johnson said he understood people’s “frustration” over different rules and restrictions for different parts of the country.
But he said one of the alternatives he had heard suggested was “let it break,” something Johnson said he “just can’t accept.”
“And as prime minister he could not take a course that could expose us to tens of thousands more deaths in a very short time,” he said.
One aspect of the latest COVID-19 restrictions that has received criticism is the 10 p.m. curfew for pubs, bars and restaurants.
When asked about this in his interview with Marr, the prime minister defended the rule and blamed people who chose to “rub shoulders” outside the establishments after hours for the scenes of crowds in the city centers around closing time.
“Obviously, it doesn’t make sense if, after having followed directions the whole time in the pub, then they go outside and rub shoulders in such a way as to spread the virus,” Johnson said.
The prime minister said they “had told us” that establishing a curfew at 10 pm could help reduce transmission of the virus, but did not elaborate on who had suggested it to ministers.
