LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will press ahead with lifting most remaining COVID restrictions on 19 July, despite warnings from the government’s scientific advisers that the “exit wave” could result in more than 200 deaths a day and thousands of hospitalisations, foreign media reported.
Speaking at a Downing Street press conference on Monday, the prime minister urged “extreme caution” on Monday, as he gave the final confirmation that step four of the roadmap would go ahead next week.
It will mean nightclubs can reopen, social distancing rules will be abandoned and mask-wearing will no longer be legally enforceable, in a “big bang” approach the shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, called “pushing down on the accelerator while throwing off the seatbelt”. But in a marked shift of emphasis from a week ago, when he said mask-wearing would become a matter of “personal choice”, Johnson said he would “expect and recommend” that face coverings be worn in crowded indoor spaces, and people were advised to limit their contact with those outside their households.
He warned businesses such as nightclubs and theatres that it was their “social responsibility” to check their customers’ COVID status; and said he expected the return to offices to take place only “gradually”. Government documents said that ministers will “consider mandating” the NHS COVID Pass if “sufficient measures are not taken to limit infection”. The health secretary, Sajid Javid, had earlier told MPs: “This is not the end of the road. It’s the start of a new phase of continued caution, where we live with the virus and manage the risks.” Under questioning from the health select committee chair, Jeremy Hunt, Javid declined to rule out imposing new restrictions in the future, if ministers judged it to be necessary. Government advisers expect about 1,000 to 2,000 daily hospital admissions over the summer as restrictions are lifted, and 100-200 deaths a day under what was described a “central scenario”. This would depend on how quickly the public’s behaviour returns to normal.
Minutes published by the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (Sage) also highlighted the threat of a new vaccine-resistant variant emerging in the UK, which they warned would pose a risk to the whole world. Johnson said there would be an increase in cases whenever restrictions were lifted, and it was better to do so now, with the “natural firebreak” of the school summer holidays, than during the autumn or winter when the NHS is already under intense pressure.
