LONDON, April 27, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday
made his first public appearance since being hospitalised with coronavirus
three weeks ago, saying Britain was beginning to “turn the tide” on the
outbreak but rejecting growing calls to ease a nationwide lockdown.
In a statement in Downing Street marking his return to work, looking
thinner and with his trademark blond hair a little longer, Johnson apologised
for being away “for much longer than I would have liked”.
He thanked the British people for heeding a month of stay-at-home orders,
which have helped stem the spread of COVID-19, although more than 20,000
people have already died from the virus.
Their efforts had ensured the state-run National Health Service was not
overwhelmed, “and that is how and why we are now beginning to turn the tide”,
the 55-year-old said.
Johnson pledged on March 19 that Britain could “turn the tide on
coronavirus within 12 weeks” but only if people heeded advice to avoid social
contact.
But while acknowledging the concerns of many businesses and increasing
numbers of MPs in his own Conservative party about the economic toll, Johnson
warned that now was not the time to ease the lockdown.
“I know it is tough and I want to get this economy moving as fast as I
can,” the prime minister said.
“But I refuse to throw away all the effort and the sacrifice of the British
people and to risk a second major outbreak, a huge loss of life and the
overwhelming of the NHS.”
– New normal –
Johnson became the most high-profile world leader to contract COVID-19 one
month ago.
He spent a week in hospital, including three nights in intensive care,
later admitting in a video message after he was discharged that things “could
have gone either way”.
He returned to his Downing Street residence on Sunday night, after two
weeks spent recovering at his countryside retreat of Chequers, and was due to
chair the daily government coronavirus meeting on Monday.
In his absence, the government has faced increasing criticism over its
response to the pandemic, as the death toll in Britain climbed to among the
highest in the world.
Healthcare professionals still complain about a lack of protective masks
and gowns, while a target to test 100,000 people a day by the end of April
looks like a tough ask.
Debate is also still raging about whether Britain introduced the lockdown
too late, as a decision looms on whether and how the measures could be eased.
People have been asked to stay at home where possible and non-essential
businesses have been shut for more than a month. The rules are up for review
on May 7.
Some hardware stores are already beginning to reopen and several
construction firms have announced a phased return to work.
A senior Conservative MP, Graham Brady, on Sunday said the government must
get the economy moving again, after dire predictions from the Bank of England
last week of the worst recession in centuries.
“If there is a question over whether something is necessary or not, I think
we should err on the side of openness and trying to make sure that more people
can get on with their lives and more people can get on with getting back to
their jobs,” he told BBC radio.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who has been standing in for Johnson, said
on Sunday however that social distancing measures would remain in place for
some time.
People would have to get used to the “new normal”, he said.