Boris Johnson is expected to announce on Thursday’s Downing Street press briefing that the lockdown will be extended beyond the 7 May until at least June.
The Prime Minister will hold his first briefing on Thursday since being back at Downing Street, and will warn the public only a modest relaxation of lockdown measures will happen next week.
The government are concerned over their being a second wave hitting the UK and want to protect the NHS, elderly and vulnerable.
A Whitehall source said it is still too early to lift social distancing measures, according to the Daily Telegraph.
The Whitehall source said, “It will very much be in the area of how we satisfy our five tests for coming out of lockdown, chief among which is making sure we don’t risk another exponential rise in infections.
“It’s still too early to be setting out any details of what any easing of the lockdown might look like.”
Comparing the UK to Germany, the Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Wednesday that Germany is an example why we should not ease restrictions too early.
Raab said. “Chancellor Merkel has made it clear that they might need a second lockdown in Germany if the infection rate continues to rise.
“So, this is a very real risk, and it’s vital we proceed carefully.
“We mustn’t gamble away the sacrifices and the progress that we’ve made.”
Jonathan Van Tam the deputy chief medical officer, has urged for extreme caution over relaxing the measures.
He said, “We have to be really careful and really sure-footed, or this virus will come back.
Leave a Comment