PM Boris Johnson warns of further measures following rapid rise in coronvirus cases
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will spend the weekend considering whether to tighten Covid-19 measures further, after saying the UK was “now seeing a second wave”.
Speaking during a visit to a Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre construction site near Oxford, Mr Johnson said: “There’s no question, as I’ve said for several weeks now, that we could expect – and are now seeing – a second wave coming in.
“We are seeing it in France, in Spain, across Europe – it has been absolutely, I’m afraid, inevitable we were going to see it in this country.”
The government is now looking at a ban on households in England mixing, and reducing opening hours for pubs and restaurants and is considering the introduction of a nationwide ‘circuit break’ to halt the spread of the virus.
At least 13.5 million people – around one in five of the UK population – are already facing local restrictions, including a swathe of the West of Scotland. The latest area to be added is the North West of England, which will see new measures introduced on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister only has direct power over restrictions in England, however, and the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can set their own rules. They are urging the PM to call an emergency COBRA meeting over the weekend to agree a coordinated approach to address the latest surge.
Coronavirus cases are now doubling everTy seven to eight days, with 4,322 confirmed cases yesterday – the highest daily total of positive tests 8 May.
Mr Johnson said he did not “want to go into bigger lockdown measures” but that tighter social distancing rules might be necessary.
He added: “Clearly when you look at what is happening, you have got to wonder whether we need to go further than the rule of six that we brought in on Monday.”
Scotland’s Firt Minister Ms Sturgeon said the next few days would be “critical” to avoid another full-scale lockdown in Scotland.
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