Moving to the target of testing 1 lakh people per day by the end of April, the Boris Johnson government has outlined five points on which it needs to be satisfied before considering any relaxation in the lockdown that was extended on Thursday by at least three more weeks.
The extended lockdown to prevent a ‘second peak’ could last until June, foreign secretary Dominic Raab said at the daily briefing in Downing Street, as the number of dead in hospitals from coronavirus rose to 13,729 and the number of positive cases to 103,093 (out of 327,608 tests carried out).
The official response to the pandemic is guided by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) comprising experts in various fields, including epidemiologists such as Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London, whose modelling was influential in imposing the lockdown on March 23.
Raab said the government will need to be satisfied on five specific points before it considers reviewing the current restrictions.
“First, we must protect the National Health Service’s ability to cope. We must be confident that we are able to provide sufficient critical care and specialist treatment right across the UK. Second, we need to see a sustained and consistent fall in the daily death rates from coronavirus so we are confident that we have moved beyond the peak”.
“Third, we need to have reliable data from SAGE showing that the rate of infection is decreasing to manageable levels across the board. Fourth, we need to be confident that the range of operational challenges, including testing capacity and PPE, are in hand, with supply able to meet future demand”.
“Fifth, and this is really crucial, we need to be confident that any adjustments to the current measures will not risk a second peak of infections that overwhelm the NHS. The worst thing we could do now is ease up too soon and allow a second peak of the virus to hit the NHS and hit the British people”.
Labour leader Keir Starmer welcomed the lockdown’s extension: “The priority now must be to ensure we see a ramp-up in testing, that staff get the PPE they desperately need, and that more is done to protect our care homes from the virus. We also need clarity about what plans are being put in place to lift the lockdown when the time is right.”
Johnson, who is recuperating in the prime minister’s country residence of Chequers in Buckinghamshire, joined millions around the UK at 8 pm on Thursday to clap and appreciate the work of carers looking after the elderly in retirement villages, hospices and care homes.
