UK PM Boris Johnson issues new Guidelines on Beating Coronavirus, Reopening Country

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson thanked his constituents for helping bring down the number of infections from the novel coronavirus during a televised speech on Sunday, but warned that the country needs to continue to “stay alert” as businesses there start to reopen.

Johnson, who spoke in a prerecorded message, announced slight modifications to the U.K.’s stay-at-home measures that included permitting some workers to go back to their jobs and allowing more people to spend time getting outdoor exercise. Retail stores, schools and restaurants, however, will remain closed, while travelers arriving in the U.K. will be quarantined once flights resume, he said.

“It would be madness to throw away that achievement by allowing a second spike,” Johnson said of the progress the U.K. has made in its battle against COVID-19. “We must stay alert.”

He added: “We have been through the initial peak, but it is coming down the mountain that is often more dangerous.”

Johnson said people in Britain who can’t work from home, such as those in construction or manufacturing jobs, “should be actively encouraged to go to work” this week.

He said starting this coming Wednesday, a restriction limiting outdoor exercise to once a day will be lifted and people will be able to take “unlimited amounts.”

The prime minister, who spent a week in the hospital receiving treatment for COVID-19, stressed that social-distancing guidelines still will have to be observed and it would be “madness” to allow a second spike in infections.

Johnson also laid out a “conditional plan” for relaxing other lockdown restrictions in the coming months, including the possible return to school from some younger children on June 1. He said he hoped some of the hospitality industry can reopen a month later.

The government-ordered lockdown, which began March 23, has reduced the transmission of the virus, but the daily death toll remained uncomfortably high, officials said. The U.K. recorded nearly 32,000 deaths as of Sunday, the most in Europe and the second-highest pandemic toll worldwide.

Ahead of his speech, Johnson sought to flesh out the meaning of the new “stay alert” slogan as telling the public to “stay at home as much as possible,” to stay over 6 feet apart “where possible” when going out and to limit contacts with other people.

The leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland said they would retain the “stay at home” message. Up until now, the four nations of the U.K. have moved in lockstep on virus regulations.

 

Credit: Foxnews

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