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Boris Johnson has raised the possibility of a New Year’s closure if the British relax in the fight against the coronavirus, as his chief doctor warned people not to hug older relatives at Christmas.
England will emerge from its second national lockdown next Wednesday and the prime minister, speaking at a press conference in Downing Street, said his aim now was to avoid “taking our foot out of the throat of the beast.”
“If we relax now, we risk losing control of this virus again, setting aside our hard-earned gains and forcing us to return to a national New Years lockdown with all the damage that would mean,” he said.
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“How are you going to taste 40% of England?”
Johnson said “tough measures” in his new three-tier system of localized restrictions would be the “best way to avoid this outcome.”
Some restrictions will be further relaxed over a five-day period during Christmas.
But England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, urged people to avoid physical contact with grandparents or other elderly relatives.
He said, “Would you encourage someone to hug and kiss their elderly relatives? No, you wouldn’t.
“It is not against the law, and that is the main point, you can do it within the rules that exist, but it does not make sense because you could be a carrier of the virus.
“And if you have an elderly relative, that would not be what you would like to do in a period where we are reaching a point where we could actually protect older people.”
Under England’s new system of localized restrictions, 99% of the country’s population will enter the two most difficult levels.
But Johnson told the public: “Your level is not your destination, each area has the means of escape.”
The prime minister noted that the massive tests would offer a route out of Level 3, and praised a recent pilot scheme in Liverpool, which will move to Level 2 starting next Wednesday.
It means that the city is one of only two places in England that experienced reduced restrictions as of December 2, moving from Level 3 of the system that preceded the national shutdown.
