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The government is ready to unveil a new catchphrase as the prime minister plans to send test kits to millions of homes and businesses as the lockdown is eased.
‘Are you ready? Take the test. Go ‘will reportedly be a new campaign launched ahead of the schools reopening next month.
The ministers hope familiar faces will confront him to help persuade people to get tested for Covid-19 even if they have no symptoms.
It comes as the NHS Test and Trace prepares to distribute more than 400,000 lateral flow tests to homes and businesses every day to reach “a new normal.”
Meanwhile, reports suggest that any lifting of the total lockdown is a long way off, with sources saying that daily cases should be below 1,000, compared to 10,000 today.
‘Are you ready? Take the test. Go ‘will reportedly be a new campaign launched ahead of the schools reopening next month. Pictured: A member of the daycare staff at Little Stars Childcare in Staffordshire holds a cotton swab on Monday
The ministers hope familiar faces will help persuade people to get tested for Covid-19 even if they have no symptoms. Pictured: Announcement of a test kit in Manchester this week
The test surge from the delivery of 400,000 kits per day, three million per week, will be led by NHS Test and Trace and Royal Mail, the Times reports.
Authorities expect schools to return on March 8, followed by stores and universities in late April, as well as the hospitality sector in early May.
Students and their parents may be receiving tests twice a week when they return and it is understood that the same will apply to teachers.
It is said that there will be a further increase in testing between April and May as lateral flow testing is rolled out in businesses to help people get back to work.
One minister said: “The vaccination program is going better than we expected, but the tests are the key to get the economy working again.”
Lateral flow tests are now available for companies open during closure with more than 50 workers.
It comes amid dire warnings that the lockdown won’t be fully lifted until cases drop to just 1,000 per day, even though daily infections still top 10,000.
The prime minister’s exit plan from the restrictions, released next Monday, is not expected to outline an exact timetable.
Instead, it is believed to present periodic reviews to prevent the country from reopening until cases plummet to their August level.
The analysis suggests that it will take until the beginning of April for infections to decrease to the required amount per day.
But this does not take into account the reopening of schools next month, which will likely spread the virus further.
A Whitehall source told the Telegraph: ‘For any significant relaxation of closure, domestic mixing and reopening of bars, the number of cases must be in the hundreds, not thousands.
“The numbers are going down pretty fast, but the plan is likely to be high-level and will lay out the tests that must be met for the restrictions to be published.
“There is a real reluctance to commit to specific dates, not knowing what the case numbers are doing.”
Separate reports say that leisure companies may not return to “general normalcy” until July according to the prime minister’s roadmap out of the lockdown.
The plan being debated by ministers and industry leaders would allow restrictions to be lowered only at four-week intervals.
Separate reports say that leisure companies may not return to ‘general normalcy’ until July according to the PM’s roadmap (pictured Monday) to get out of lockdown
The gradual approach means that traders will have to wait at least until Easter, early April, for a limited restart (file photo)
The gradual approach means that traders will have to wait at least until Easter, early April, for a limited restart.
This is likely to include the reopening of vacation rentals and larger hotels, with dining rooms still closed. Sports such as golf and tennis could be resumed.
Pubs, bars and restaurants will have to wait until early May according to plans, with a maximum of two households allowed to sit together indoors and the rule of six applying outside.
In the next stage, in early June, the rules for pubs and restaurants will be relaxed with the rule of six indoors.
The hospitality and national holiday industries could be allowed to return to normal in July, with social distancing.
Ministers will not make a final decision on the schedule until this weekend when they are presented with the latest data on the spread of the virus.
Johnson will unveil the plan on Monday.
But the draft is the most detailed outline of the government’s thinking so far. It seems to confirm that, contrary to the demands of some Tory MPs, the prime minister is determined to be cautious, with plenty of “leeway” to adapt to any resurgence of the virus.
The fact that the rule of six and social distancing are expected to remain in effect well into the summer indicates the extent of concerns about new mutations.
It was also revealed that office staff are expected to be told to continue working from home when the prime minister unveils his roadmap.
You are not expected to set a firm date for when employees should return to their desks, which means that the ‘work from home if you can’ message will continue for the foreseeable future.
