Boris Johnson today announced he is hoping to begin easing the UK’s coronavirus lockdown on Monday as Matt Hancock suggested cafes could reopen if they have outdoor drinking areas.
The Prime Minister said some measures will be lifted from the start of next week if the latest scientific evidence shows the spread of the disease is sufficiently under control.
The PM will renew social distancing restrictions on Thursday before using an address to the nation on Sunday night to set out his lockdown exit strategy.
He is pushing ahead despite admitting the UK’s death toll, which today surpassed 30,000 and is the worst in Europe, is ‘appalling’.
Mr Johnson said the Sunday address would prepare people for potential changes on Monday but the specifics remain a secret.
However, Health Secretary Matt Hancock gave a hint as to what could be expected as he suggested cafes with outdoor seating could be allowed to reopen while Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said the exit plan will look at how a wide range of firms can be ‘adapted’ so they can resume business.
Mr Hancock told Sky News: ‘There is strong evidence that outdoors the spread is much, much lower, so there may be workarounds that some businesses, for instance cafes, especially over the summer, may be able to put into place.’
His comments are likely to prompt questions as to whether pubs could also be allowed to reopen over the summer if they have a beer garden as some chains suggested customers could order rounds using their mobile phones.
Meanwhile, Public Health England is said to have told councils across the country to prepare this weekend to shift away from the government’s current ‘stay home’ message to a new slogan.
Mr Johnson made his lockdown timing announcement as he returned to the House of Commons for the first time since his recovery from coronavirus.
Today marked the debut clash between Mr Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer as the Labour leader accused the PM of botching the UK’s response to the outbreak.
He said only last week the government had boasted other countries were looking at the ‘apparent success’ of Downing Street‘s approach to tackling the virus.
But with the official death toll now above 30,000, Sir Keir asked Mr Johnson: ‘How on Earth did it come to this?’
Mr Johnson tried to deflect the criticism as he insisted now is not the time for international comparisons due to differences in the way countries compile their statistics.
Boris Johnson today made his return to PMQs in the House of Commons after a six week absence. He conceded that the UK’s coronavirus death toll is ‘appalling’
The latest Downing Street statistics published today show the UK now has the highest coronavirus death toll in Europe
The number of new cases of coronavirus spiked today, according to the latest Number 10 data, as testing capacity continued to increase
The UK’s coronavirus outbreak remains on a slow downward trajectory after peaking in the middle of last month
The news relating to lockdown came as:
- Mr Jenrick told the evening Number 10 press conference that the number of coronavirus deaths had increased by 649 on yesterday with the total now at 30,076.
- The UK is now the first country in Europe to surpass the grim milestone of 30,000 coronavirus deaths.
- Doctors today called for a public inquiry into the UK government’s handling of the crisis to determine why Britain has been so badly affected.
- Mr Johnson set a new Government target of having the capacity to carry out 200,000 coronavirus tests per day by the end of May.
- Rishi Sunak is planning to ‘wind down’ the Government’s furlough scheme in July.
- Britons could spend four days working in the office and the next ten working from home in radical new plans put to the government to kick-start the economy while avoiding a second peak of infections.
- Mr Hancock said he does still find time for non-work activities, revealing at the weekend he played frisbee in the park with his children.
When and how to ease the current draconian lockdown measures has dominated Westminster for weeks as ministers try to figure out how to get Britain back to work.
Referring to his planned address on Sunday, Mr Johnson told MPs at PMQs: ‘I just want to explain to the House as a courtesy why it is happening on a Sunday.
‘The reason for that is very simple, that we have to be sure that the data is going to support our ability to do this.
‘But that data is coming in continuously over the next few days. We will want if we possibly can to get going with some of these measures on Monday.
‘I think it would be a good thing if people had an idea of what is coming the following day, that is why I think Sunday, the weekend, is the best time to do it.’
Mr Jenrick told today’s Downing Street press conference that the exit plan will look at how workplaces from factories to construction sites to offices can be ‘adapted’ to allow people back to work.
It will also look at how outdoor spaces, including high streets and markets, can be ‘managed’ to allow the return of shoppers.
‘The Prime Minister will set out on Sunday our approach to the second phase of this pandemic and as we look ahead to supporting businesses as they are able to reopen, my department will lead our work on how our local economies can adapt, evolve, recover and grow,’ he said.
The comments came after it was claimed that a ban on exercising more than once a day outside will be one of the first rules to be lifted.
Relaxing rules around outdoor activities is expected to be one of the PM’s first moves because experts believe the risk of transmission of the disease is lower outside than it is inside.
The Mail today revealed that a selection of activities will be given the green light to reopen within weeks.
Golf, tennis and angling are on a draft list of sports which will be allowed to resume from a date in June if they can be shown to be done safely.
Experts believe allowing some sporting activities to resume will deliver a much needed boost to the nation’s morale.
On the golf course, players will be told to maintain a distance of 6ft from others at all times and clubhouses will remain shut.
Guidelines will say golfers must use their own clubs and they may be limited to playing against one other person.
Tennis players could be asked to wear gloves on court to stop the virus being spread as they pick up the ball. They might also be restricted to playing with members of their household.
Mr Johnson last appeared in front of MPs on March 25 when the UK’s lockdown was just two days old.
He spent much of the six weeks since then recovering from his own battle with coronavirus before formally returning to work last week.
He had been due to attend PMQs last Wednesday but stand-in Dominic Raab continued to face Sir Keir because of the birth of Mr Johnson’s son Wilfred.
Sir Keir welcomed Mr Johnson back to the chamber before tearing into his handling of the coronavirus crisis.
‘Can I welcome the Prime Minister back to his place and say that it is good to see him back in Parliament,’ he said.
‘Although I have done this privately, can I congratulate him publicly with Carrie on the birth of their son.
‘When the Prime Minister returned to work a week ago Monday he said that many people were looking at the apparent success of the government’s approach.
‘But yesterday we learned tragically that at least 29,427 people in the UK have now lost their lives to this dreadful virus.
‘That is now the highest number in Europe. It is the second highest in the world.
‘That is not success, or apparent success, so can the Prime Minister tell us how on Earth did it come to this?’
Mr Johnson replied: ‘First, of course, every death is a tragedy and he is right to draw attention to the appalling statistics not just in this country but of course around the world.
‘I think I would echo really in answer to his question what we have heard from Professor David Spiegelhalter and others that at this stage I don’t think that international comparisons and the data is yet there to draw the conclusions that we want.
‘What I can tell him is that at every stage as we took the decisions that we did we were governed by one overriding principle and aim and that was to save lives and to protect our NHS.
Robert Jenrick, the Communities Secretary (right), told today’s Downing Street coronavirus press conference that the lockdown exit plan will look at how businesses can ‘adapt’ so they can reopen. Matt Hancock had earlier hinted cafes could be allowed to resume business if they have outdoor seating
The prospect of lockdown measures being lifted will be welcomed by many across the nation. People are pictured today sat next to the River Ness in Scotland
‘I believe that of course there will be a time to look at what decisions we took and whether we could have taken different decisions.
‘But I have absolutely no doubt that what the people of this country want us to do now is as I said just now, to suppress this disease, to keep suppressing this disease and to begin the work of getting our country’s economy back on its feet.’
There are growing fears among some Tory MPs about how the next few months could play out given the current state of the coronavirus crisis and the scale of the death toll.
Some believe Sir Keir could be well suited to scrutinising Mr Johnson and the government’s response to the outbreak given the former’s previous roll as the director of public prosecutions.
One worried Tory MP told Politico: ‘We are in a completely different world now, in terms of the opposition as well as the virus.
‘Starmer is a prosecuting lawyer, and it is going to be the case for the prosecution every week, with Boris as the accused.’
The government is under growing pressure to agree to an inquiry into coronavirus in the UK.
Official Department of Health data published yesterday showed 29,427 people had died – but those numbers only include people who have tested positive for the virus.
Different detailed statistics also published yesterday suggested that more than 30,000 Britons had died of COVID-19 by April 24 – almost two weeks ago – and the number of victims continues to rise.
Trends suggest more than 40,000 people may actually have died with the illness, the same number of civilians who were killed over seven months during the Blitz in World War Two.
The president of the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association has now said there should be an investigation into the Government’s performance.
Dr Claudia Paoloni said questions must be asked about how quickly Downing Street reacted to the threat, whether lockdown came early enough and why the testing and tracing attempt has been ‘inadequate’.
She told The Guardian: ‘There will have to be a full investigation of the handling of the COVID response in due course – a public inquiry – to understand why we are experiencing such large numbers in comparison to the rest of Europe. ‘
Addressing the country on Wednesday, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick yesterday called on Britons to buy a newspaper to help publications make it through the Covid-19 shutdown.
He said: ‘A free country needs a free press and the national, the regional and the local newspapers of our country are under significant financial pressure.
‘I would like to echo the words of the Culture Secretary [Oliver Dowden] recently in encouraging everyone who can to buy a newspaper.’
Across the industry, many titles have been forced to furlough staff and reduce pay.