Boris Johnson 'fears second peak of infections if Covid-19 lockdown relaxed too soon'

The Prime Minister reportedly ​poured caution on easing current lockdown measures during discussion with senior Government colleagues
The Prime Minister is continuing to recover from a Covid-19 infection which left him in intensive care for several days and is not expected to return to frontline politics until next month
10 Downing Street/AFP via Getty
David Child20 April 2020

Boris Johnson is said to be cautious about relaxing existing lockdown restrictions due to fears such a move could unleash a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Prime Minister told senior Government figures during a meeting on Friday his priority was to "help Britain recover" and "return to what aides have described as a 'new normal'" after the Covid-19 crisis, the Times reported on Monday.

He reportedly raised concerns that easing current measures could lead to a “second peak” of the virus, and result in another economically-damaging lockdown being implemented.

Mr Johnson himself is continuing to recover from a Covid-19 infection which left him in intensive care for several days earlier this month.

He is not expected to return to frontline politics until next month, but is said to have been delivering orders in recent days to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is standing in for the PM.

Meanwhile, the lockdown is set to last until at least early May after the Government on Thursday extended the measure for another three weeks.

Announcing the move, Mr Raab said: "Overall, we still don’t have the infection rate down as far as we need to."

More than 16,000 people have now died in hospitals throughout the UK after contracting Covid-19.

The overall death toll nationwide is expected to be significantly higher, however, when deaths in care homes and the community are taken into account.

Pointing to an apparent slowing of hospital deaths over the weekend, England’s deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries said the development was “positive news”.

But she cautioned against reading too much into the figures, saying they reflected the usual drop in cases confirmed at weekends.

Asked during the daily Downing Street press briefing on Sunday whether the UK is “past the peak” of coronavirus, Dr Harries said: “We could jump to all sorts of positive conclusions about that but we shouldn’t.

“I do think it is fair to say that we do know from the hospital data that we are starting to plateau across.”

She added: “If we don’t keep doing the social distancing, we will create a second peak and we definitely won’t be past it so this is no reason to consider that we have managed this.

“But I do think things look to be heading in the right direction.”

That came as Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, speaking alongside Dr Harries, ruled out opening schools over the summer to help plug gaps in learning caused by weeks of lockdown.

He insisted that five tests would need to be met before any easing of social distancing measures could be implemented.

Detailing these criteria, Mr Williamson said: “First we must protect the NHS’s ability to cope, and be sure that it can continue to provide critical care and specialist treatment right across the whole of the United Kingdom.

“Second, we need to see daily death rates from coronavirus coming down.

“Third, we need to have reliable data that shows the rate of infection is decreasing to manageable levels.

“Four, we need to be confident that testing capacity and PPE is being managed, with supply able to meet, not just today’s demand, but future demand.

“And fifth, and perhaps most crucially, we need to be confident that any changes we do make will not risk a second peak of infections."

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