Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, has disclosed that Britain’s lockdown is to continue for at least another three weeks because experts still cannot be sure the coronavirus epidemic has peaked.
Raab, who is deputising for Prime Minister Boris Johnson while he recovers from Covid-19, said there was hope that the number of new infections was no longer rising in the community daily but was less certain about some hospitals and care homes.
However people would have to stick with the instructions to “stay at home, protect the NHS, and save lives” until scientists and medics could be sure the outbreak was under control.
“The worst thing we could do is ease up too soon. It would be the worst outcome not just for public health but the economy and the country as a whole,” he said.
He suggested there were five signs that the UK would have to see before the lockdown could be gradually eased, including a sustained and consistent fall in the daily death rate and reliable data showing the rate of infection is decreasing to manageable levels across the board.
Raab made the statement after a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee on coronavirus, which was attended by Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, the Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford, Northern Ireland’s first minister, Arlene Foster, and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
With over 103,000 confirmed cases, nearly 14,000 deaths and an average positive daily cases of around 4,000, it is very likely that Britons may remain at home until the summer.
