Minggu, 03 Mei 2020

Boris's 'whack-a-mole' strategy to get Britain back to work and school - Daily Mail

Boris's 'whack-a-mole' strategy to get Britain back to work: Kick-start construction, open offices under strict distancing and cleaning rules, hit emerging hotspots hard and send more children back in school

  • PM expected to reveal roadmap of proposals to very carefully lift lockdown
  • It is likely to be a very gradual easing with hotspots going back into closure 
  • Businesses and schools could reopen but pubs likely to be shut for months 
  • Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19

Boris Johnson will this week reveal his 'whack-a-mole' strategy to ease the coronavirus lockdown and put the UK economy back into gear.

The Prime Minister is expected to reveal his roadmap of proposals to very carefully and slowly lift the restriction in place since late March, but come down hard on any secondary hotspots that emerge.

The first easing of restrictions is not expected to come into force until June, and will be accompanied by the stricter enforcement of breaches of the remaining rules, with fines rising from the current £60 to more than £3,000 for repeat offenders. 

It will include a massive PR blitz urging people who cannot work from home to go in where they can safely, and urging key workers to send their children back to school to free them up for vital tasks.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps warned that Britain will not return to 'business as usual' this month.

He told Sky's Sophy Ridge On Sunday: 'I don't think we should expect us to go from this situation that we have at the moment of social distancing back to where we were in February - that's clearly not going to happen and I don't think anyone imagines that for one moment.' 

Ministers are concerned that the public have gone beyond the letter of the law introduced when the pandemic began to sweep the nation, according to the Sunday Times.

A senior Whitehall source told the paper: 'What you are going to see this week is a restatement of what we thought would happen right at the beginning when we first issued the lockdown. 

'But it's going to be repackaged as a slow opening up of the economy. Please will construction sites reopen, please will you go to work if you can without hurting people, please if you are a key worker will you send your children to school. 

'We've gone round the houses to get back to where we started.' 

It came as: 

  • Senior doctors have warned Boris Johnson the lockdown should be eased for over-70s on mental health grounds
  • Minsters were said to be examining plans to re-open some schools from the beginning of June 
  • Some people were found to be enjoying the lockdown, saying it was helping their relationships, they were enjoying work more and plan to spend more time with their children in future 
  • A ban on picnics and visits to beauty spots could be lifted
  • Public transport could return to approaching normal levels of service but with measures in place to limit rush hour numbers 
  • Boris Johnson has revealed that doctors prepared to announce his death in case he lost his coronavirus battle.

New polls today reveal how reluctant Britons are to return to normal while hundreds of people are still dying every day. 

Carrie Symonds and Wilfred yesterday
Boris Johnson

The Prime Minister (right), whose son Wilfred was revealed to the world by mum Carrie Symonds yesterday (left)  is expected to reveal his roadmap of proposals to very carefully and slowly lift the restriction in place since late March, but come down hard on any secondary hotspots that emerge.

Ministers are preparing to lift restrictions on outdoor activities such as picnics as the first stage in relaxing the lockdown rules.

Ministers are preparing to lift restrictions on outdoor activities such as picnics as the first stage in relaxing the lockdown rules. 

More than four in five Britons are against lockdown restrictions being eased for schools, pubs and restaurants this week, according to a poll by Opinium for the Observer. Just 17 per cent thought the time was right to consider re-opening schools, with smaller proportions of people thinking conditions had been met to allow cinemas, sporting stadia and nightclubs to open their doors. 

In the Sunday Times, a YouGov poll found that just 25 per cent of adults would feel safe returning to work and oppose reopening schools by 48 per cent to 28 per cent.

And 59 per cent of people polled by the Sunday Express said they would not feel comfortable going out and do not plan to resume a normal life next month.    

Ministers will aim to tread a fine line between kickstarting economic activity and keeping 'R', the reproduction rate of the virus, below 1.  

The number of people who have died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for Covid-19 in the UK as of 5pm on Friday rose to 28,131, up by 621.

The death toll has edged closer to that of Italy, which now stands at 28,710 and is the highest in Europe, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. 

People will only be allowed to do exercise and go on picnics with members of their household and must stay at least two metres (6ft 6in) away from other groups

People will only be allowed to do exercise and go on picnics with members of their household and must stay at least two metres (6ft 6in) away from other groups

Ministers are concerned that the public have gone beyond the letter of the law introduced when the pandemic began to sweep the nation, according to the Sunday Times

Ministers are concerned that the public have gone beyond the letter of the law introduced when the pandemic began to sweep the nation, according to the Sunday Times

Get businesses going again  

The Government's main priority is getting the economy going again, amid dire statistics about commercial activity and hundreds of billions of pounds flowing out of the treasury to prop up firms and pay the wages of furloughed workers.

'Discriminatory' lockdown should be eased for the healthy elderly, say senior doctors

Senior doctors have warned Boris Johnson the lockdown should be eased for over-70s that are considered healthy, due to the damage keeping them inside is doing to their mental health.

Both the Royal College of GPs and the British Medical Association (BMA) weighed in to say that age alone should not be the determining factor when the government establishes who can return to their daily lives as the lockdown is eased, potentially in the coming weeks and months.

Around 1.8 million people classed as 'clinically vulnerable' were told to stay indoors for 12 weeks when the lockdown began as they were considered to be the most at-risk people in the UK from Covid-19.

Some ministers have even suggested that such groups could have to stay at home until a vaccine has been developed, which could well take a year or more.

Those in the 'clinically vulnerable' category include anyone 'aged 70 or older regardless of medical condition', as well as anyone who is younger than 70 with a 'underlying health condition'.

According to The Times, the doctor's union said that while it agreed that the most vulnerable people in society must be protected, measures should be determined on individual risk with a system that applies to all ages, and not just 'an arbitrary age of 60 or 70.'

Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, warned of the harm a prolonged lockdown would do to the 'physical and mental' of those over the age of 70, and that their age is not the best way to determine 'who should self-isolate and to what extent during the next stage of lockdown'.

The BMA said said in a statement: 'A blanket ban on any section of the population being prohibited from lockdown easing would be discriminatory and unacceptable.'

It comes as a leading business group urges the Government to be 'bold' and not shy away from sustaining high levels of public spending.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) laid out a series of moves for a phased end to the current lockdown in a letter to the PM.

Steps should include safely reopening public spaces, schools and public transport, as well as workplaces and commercial spaces, said the letter. 

Moves should be made to minimise job losses and business failures, putting the UK economy on a 'high-growth, high-wage and low unemployment trajectory' as soon as possible. 

 The plans due to be laid out this week are reported to focus on those who work outside, including construction workers, because of science suggesting the virus is harder to catch outdoors. 

 Public transport is likely to return to normal levels and non-food retailers, factories, and warehouses will be encouraged to open.

Work on this has already started: people yesterday flocked to newly reopened DIY stores and rubbish tips.

Orderly queues formed at branches of Homebase, which opened 164 stores, as well as B&Q and Wickes. Costa Coffee drive-throughs were also busy. 

Offices are expected to instruct most of their staff to continue working from home.

But for those who cannot there will be strict rules for office spaces

They include mandatory floor markings to keep staff two metres apart, staggered start times and breaks, limits on how many people can get in lifts and regular deep cleaning, according to the Sunday Express. 

And in a blow to everyone desperate to celebrate the release of the lockdown with a  cold pint in their local, pubs and restaurants are likely to remain closed for weeks or even months longer.

This is because the bring people into close proximity to each other in difficult to control ways. 

But the phased reopening will be accompanied by harder action against those who break social distancing rules.

School is not out for summer

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps this morning told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday: 'It's no secret that of course we want the kids to go back to school but I'd be over-egging it to say there's a date in place, there's a plan in place'

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps this morning told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday: 'It's no secret that of course we want the kids to go back to school but I'd be over-egging it to say there's a date in place, there's a plan in place'

Primary schools could re-open on June 1, with students from Years 10 and 12 becoming the first in a wave of secondary pupils flocking to classes.

Boris Johnson is hoping to put teachers on three weeks' notice to re-open primary schools in England to all pupils as soon as next month.

Lockdown is making us love our families MORE: Britons are less likely to split up from partners, are eating and sleeping more... and having more sex 

 When Boris Johnson announced the stringent stay-at-home measures in March, many predicted: 'The divorce rate is going to go up!'

Not so, according to The Mail on Sunday's exclusive poll, which paints a more rosy picture of life in lockdown, showing that, on balance, people believe that the extra time spent with their partners has made them less likely to split up.

They are also enjoying work more, plan to spend more time with their children in future and are having more sex – but only if they are married.

The results of the Deltapoll survey will be studied closely in Downing Street as officials start to draw up a blueprint for easing the restrictions slowly and safely.

In terms of intimate relations, the lockdown has opened up a divide between the generations.

Overall, 29 per cent of people said that they were having less sex now, compared with 20 per cent who are having more.

But among the 18-24 age group, more than half (58 per cent) are enjoying less intimacy, with just 18 per cent enjoying more. That is the generation likely to be still living at home or in shared flats, rather than with long-term partners, and unable to go on dates.

Whitehall sources have claimed the earliest possible return of primary schoolchildren is intended to help parents to return to work.

It will also prevent damage being done to 'early years development' about which Gavin Williamson has warned, according to The Sunday Telegraph. 

Officials are understood to be contemplating limiting the size of classes temporarily, while the question of when to re-open nurseries is an open one.

Pupils from Years 10 and 12 would then head to school, provided ministers were satisfied the transmission rate did not cause a 'second peak'.

The move is being considered as data show that younger children are potentially less likely to transmit Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The discussions also come after Mr Williams told the education select committee this week that schools would not reopen opening during the summer holidays as a way of helping pupils who have missed out on education to catch up.

The education secretary also suggested a phased return to schools, saying it was 'not realistic or practical' for all school children to return in one day.

He said scientists were looking at other countries for best practice and that a special team of the Scientific Group for Emergencies (SAGE) had been set up to focus solely on schools reopening.

Mr Shapps told Sophy Ridge on Sunday: 'It's no secret that of course we want the kids to go back to school but I'd be over-egging it to say there's a date in place, there's a plan in place.' 

But Ofsted chief inspector of schools Amanda Spielman told the same programme: 'If if you look at the interests of children ... it's very clear that their interests are served, in the vast majority of cases, by being back at school as soon as possible.'

Public transport running - but with social distancing 

Doctors prepared to announce Boris Johnson's DEATH while he battled coronavirus 

 Boris Johnson has revealed that doctors prepared to announce his death in case he lost his coronavirus battle.

The Prime Minister, 55, has admitted he was 'not in particularly brilliant shape' while battling the disease at St Thomas' Hospital in central London last month.

As his chances of survival balanced on a knife-edge, he said he was given 'litres and litres' of oxygen as medics fought to keep him alive in intensive care.

In his first interview since recovering from Covid-19 - and the birth of his son Wilfred - the PM recalled his frustration that he could not seem to shake the virus.

But Mr Johnson described how the sobering experience allowed him to see the 'fantastic' care offered by the NHS, his voice cracking as he reflected on the rollercoaster past few weeks.

Public transport could return to approaching normal levels of service but with measures in place to limit numbers.

Scenes of packed Tube trans during the lockdown shocked the nation and Mr Shapps this morning said that it was unlikely that would be allowed.

He indicated that the staggered start times enforced in offices could be used to help reduce peak demand on trains and buses. 

'The crushes would be completely at odds with social distancing,' he told Sky.

'Of course i'm very concerned about people being able to wash their hands - it's still far and away the most important advice….

'We can help with that by trying to have hand sanitiser , one-way systems, spacing on platforms and at bus stops and that sort of this clearly marked out.

'There are a lot of different measures that can be taken, of which easing into this is clearly going to be one of the most important things of all.'

But he refused to confirm the idea reported last week that commuters could face temperature checks at stations before  being allowed on to services.

Ban on picnics at beauty spots to be lifted 

Ministers are preparing to lift restrictions on outdoor activities such as picnics as the first stage in relaxing the lockdown rules.

The Mail on Sunday understands the plans – likely to be introduced later this month if coronavirus infection rates continue to fall – will mean people can exercise several times each day and drive to the countryside and other outdoor spaces for walks and picnics.

However, they will only be allowed to do so with members of their household and must stay at least two metres (6ft 6in) away from other groups.

The change, which will end the sight of police officers moving on solitary sunbathers in parks, follows new scientific advice to ministers that the risk of transmitting the disease outside is substantially lower than indoors.

 But people will still be barred from areas such as playgrounds and beaches where crowds congregate and the two-metre rule becomes harder to observe.

Covid-19 cases to be tracked by a smartphone app

Trials of an NHS coronavirus contact tracing smartphone app are to start in the Isle of Wight this week, before being rolled out nationwide.

Mr Shapps stressed the app would be completely confidential but called it a 'fantastic way' to ensure the country can 'keep a lid' on coronavirus and prevent a second wave.

'The idea is that we will encourage as many people to take this up as possible,' he said.

'This is going to be a huge national effort and we need for this to work 50-60% of people to be using this app.

'Not everybody has a smartphone, and I appreciate that for various reasons not everybody will download it but it will be the best possible way to help the NHS.'

Mr Shapps said he did not know how many of the 18,000 contact tracers the Government is seeking have been hired yet - with plans for them to be in place by mid-May.

He told Sky: 'It's not an issue because the app isn't going to be available for some time yet, a few weeks yet, but when it is there we will have the people in place.'

Labour's shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said that testing and tracing will be 'so important' in easing the lockdown in the weeks and months ahead.

Speaking on Sky's Sophy Ridge programme, he said: 'We've been asking for the ramping up of testing so clearly I'm pleased that testing has been ramped up.

'I think there's always been a difference between the number of tests actually carried out and the overall statistics, indeed the number of people tested is a different figure.

'But of course I'm pleased that testing has been ramped up. But that in itself is not a strategy.

'Firstly, the testing has to be increased further, I mean the original target we were talking about a quarter of a million tests a day some time ago, but it has to be linked to tracing as well and it's that testing and tracing that is going to be so important now in terms of easing the measures of the lockdown in the weeks and months ahead.'

Britons will be allowed to exercise several times each day and drive to the countryside for walks and picnics in the first stage of relaxing lockdown

Ministers are preparing to lift restrictions on outdoor activities such as picnics as the first stage in relaxing the lockdown rules.

The Mail on Sunday understands the plans – likely to be introduced later this month if coronavirus infection rates continue to fall – will mean people can exercise several times each day and drive to the countryside and other outdoor spaces for walks and picnics.

However, they will only be allowed to do so with members of their household and must stay at least two metres (6ft 6in) away from other groups.

The change, which will end the sight of police officers moving on solitary sunbathers in parks, follows new scientific advice to ministers that the risk of transmitting the disease outside is substantially lower than indoors.

But people will still be barred from areas such as playgrounds and beaches where crowds congregate and the two-metre rule becomes harder to observe.

The softening of restrictions will be accompanied by the stricter enforcement of breaches of the remaining rules, with fines rising from the current £60 to more than £3,000 for repeat offenders.

Boris Johnson's review of the lockdown on Thursday is not expected to lead to any more substantial changes until next month when public transport is likely to return to normal levels and non-food retailers, factories, warehouses and more construction sites will be encouraged to open.

Offices are expected to instruct most of their staff to continue working from home, while pubs and restaurants are likely to remain closed for weeks or even months longer.

Global deaths were approaching 250,000 – including more than 65,000 in the US – as many European countries made the first tentative steps out of lockdown.

Asked about relaxing restrictions on outdoor activities in Britain, a senior government source said: 'Thanks to the huge efforts of the British public we are past the peak of the virus without the NHS having been overwhelmed.

'Now we can start to look at which elements of the social distancing rules can be adjusted while keeping the rate of transmission down, so we are looking at how to lift everyone's spirits by allowing the public to get into the great outdoors.'

While relaxing some measures, Ministers plan to 'come down hard' on 'hotspots' where infection rates rise. Fines for breaching coronavirus rules are expected to be increased to £100 and keep on double for any repeat offence up to a maximum £3,200 for serial offenders, who could also face arrest.

The source added: 'The vast majority of people have followed the rules, but in the next phase of our fight it will be even more critical that a small minority of rule-breakers do not put the rest of us at risk. That is why we will give the police tougher powers.'

The Government is also expected to issue formal guidance next week advising that face masks should be worn to work.

People yesterday flocked to newly reopened DIY stores and rubbish tips – although dumps in Greater Manchester are to use number plate recognition to limit the number of visits. Orderly queues formed at branches of Homebase, which opened 164 stores, as well as B&Q and Wickes. Costa Coffee drive-throughs were also busy.

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2020-05-03 08:54:19Z
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Boris Johnson reveals doctors prepared to announce his death as he battled coronavirus - The Sun


BORIS Johnson has revealed that doctors prepared to announce his death as he battled coronavirus.

The PM told The Sun on Sunday he was given “litres and litres of oxygen” to keep him alive.

⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates

 Boris Johnson revealed that doctors prepared to announce his death as he battled Covid-19

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Boris Johnson revealed that doctors prepared to announce his death as he battled Covid-19Credit: Crown Copyright
 The Prime Minister told of his life-or-death struggle against coronavirus, during which he depended on 'litres and litres of oxygen' to survive

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The Prime Minister told of his life-or-death struggle against coronavirus, during which he depended on 'litres and litres of oxygen' to surviveCredit: AFP
 He also hailed the amazing doctors at St Thomas’ Hospital who saved his life

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He also hailed the amazing doctors at St Thomas’ Hospital who saved his lifeCredit: Dan Jones - The Sun

He added: “It was a tough old moment, I won’t deny it. They had a strategy to deal with a ‘death of Stalin’-type scenario.

"I was not in particularly brilliant shape and I was aware there were contingency plans in place.

“The doctors had all sorts of arrangements for what to do if things went badly wrong.

“They gave me a face mask so I got litres and litres of oxygen and for a long time I had that and the little nose jobbie.”

The stark reality of his plight quickly struck home when he was wired up to monitors and moved into intensive care.

He told how “the bloody indicators kept going in the wrong direction” and he realised there was no cure for Covid-19.

During his life-or-death struggle at St Thomas’ Hospital last month, Boris kept asking himself: “How am I going to get out of this?”

They had a strategy to deal with a ‘death of Stalin’-type scenario. I was not in particularly brilliant shape.

Boris Johnson

He recalled: “It was hard to believe that in just a few days my health had deteriorated to this extent. I remember feeling frustrated. I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t getting better.

“But the bad moment came when it was 50-50 whether they were going to have to put a tube down my windpipe.

“That was when it got a bit . . . they were starting to think about how to handle it presentationally."

Sitting in his office at 10 Downing Street, Mr Johnson welled up as he relived the extraordinary two weeks in which he nearly lost his own life but recovered in time to see the birth of another – his new son Wilfred.

He said: “It was thanks to some wonderful, wonderful nursing that I made it. They really did it and they made a huge difference.

“I can’t explain how it happened. I don’t know . . . it was just wonderful to see the . . . ”

His voice falters while his eyes redden and he pauses to take a deep breath.

He continues: “I get emotional about it . . . but it was an extraordinary thing.”

Mr Johnson’s fiancee Carrie Symonds released the first picture of their son on Saturday. He arrived just 17 days after his dad was discharged from hospital.

The tot has the middle name Nicholas - in recognition of doctors Nicholas Price and Nicholas Hart, who saved the PM’s life in intensive care.

Join our George Cross campaign for NHS staff

We are urging Sun readers to sign a petition calling for our NHS staff to be awarded the George Cross.

We are backing a proposal by Lord Ashcroft to honour our health heroes with the gallantry gong given for acts of bravery that did not take place in battle.

A No10 spokesman said: “The NHS is doing a fantastic job and the nation will want to find a way to say thank you when we have defeated this virus.” SAS hero Andy McNab added: “The award of a George Cross would show an emotional appreciation.”

We are asking our readers to please sign the petition below.

 Boris spoke of his fear when 'the bloody indicators kept going in the wrong direction' and he realised there was no cure for Covid-19

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Boris spoke of his fear when 'the bloody indicators kept going in the wrong direction' and he realised there was no cure for Covid-19Credit: Crown Copyright
 Mr Johnson’s fiancee Carrie Symonds today released the first picture of their son Wilfred, who was born just 17 days after the PM was discharged

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Mr Johnson’s fiancee Carrie Symonds today released the first picture of their son Wilfred, who was born just 17 days after the PM was discharged
 Carrie said her 'heart is full' after welcoming her baby boy into the world

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Carrie said her 'heart is full' after welcoming her baby boy into the worldCredit: AP:Associated Press
 The Sun on Sunday's political editor David Wooding met with Boris Johnson at No10 Downing Street

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The Sun on Sunday's political editor David Wooding met with Boris Johnson at No10 Downing StreetCredit: Crown Copyright

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Mr Johnson, 55, admits he initially brushed off just how serious it was when he tested positive for coronavirus in late March.

He went into self-isolation in the flat above Downing Street ­— parted from Carrie — but continued to work flat out.

The PM recalled: “The thing was, I was in denial because I was working and I kept doing these meetings by video link.

“But I was really feeling pretty groggy, to be totally honest with you. I was feeling pretty wasted — not in an intoxicated way, but just, you know, pretty rough.”

He then stops suddenly and asks: “Have you had this thing? Well, don’t get it. You don’t want it. I wasn’t struggling to breathe but I just wasn’t in good shape and it wasn’t getting better.

"Then the doctors got anxious because they thought that my readings were not where they wanted them to be.

“Then I was told I had to go into St Thomas’. I said I really didn’t want to go into hospital.

“It didn’t seem to me to be a good move but they were pretty adamant. Looking back, they were right to force me to go.

COMING TO TERMS WITH DEATH

"I did have the most fantastic care. It was awe-inspiring to see how they look after people and I was very lucky.”

Mr Johnson made the short trip to the hospital across Westminster Bridge along with his two protection officers.

After a quick assessment, he was put on oxygen and fitted with a tube beneath his nose.

But it soon became clear he needed more and so he was given a large face mask. Events took a turn for the worse and got “a bit scary” when he was moved to intensive care the next day.

The PM explained: “There was one stage when they were giving me really quite a lot of oxygen.

“So they gave me a face mask and my intake became really quite substantial. I was going through litres and litres of oxygen for a long time.

“But things started to deteriorate on the Monday. I realised it was getting serious when they moved me into intensive care."

 Carrie and Boris announced their pregnancy in February
Carrie and Boris announced their pregnancy in February
 Mr Johnson vows he is driven 'by an overwhelming desire to get our country as a whole back on its feet, healthy again'

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Mr Johnson vows he is driven 'by an overwhelming desire to get our country as a whole back on its feet, healthy again'Credit: PA:Press Association
 The PM has agreed to take his paternity leave at a later date

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The PM has agreed to take his paternity leave at a later dateCredit: AFP

The Sun on Sunday says

BORIS JOHNSON’S brush with death could hardly have been closer.

In his interview today he reveals doctors were already planning a dreadful announcement if things went wrong.

At one point he was so ill he was nearly put on a ventilator with “a tube down my windpipe”.

“It was a tough old moment,” he admits. “I won’t deny it.”

With black humour, he says he was aware the doctors had a strategy for a “death of Stalin type scenario”.

But what also comes through this emotionally raw interview is Boris’s incredible fighting spirit.

His ordeal in intensive care at St Thomas’ hospital was undoubtedly one of the nation’s darkest hours during this dreadful crisis.

But his remarkable recovery in a few short weeks and the birth of his baby son Wilfred inspire new life and hope.

Who better to revive the country than someone who has himself bounced back from the brink?

Boris’s optimism will now be needed as never before, and his return to Downing Street has already filled the leadership vacuum.

He will need to deploy all his skills to get Britain off its knees and unveil crucial plans this week for us to ease the lockdown.

Yet with this PM’s powers of revival you feel anything is possible.

Mr Johnson admits he was coming to terms — probably for the first time — with his own mortality. He had been in hospital several times before, usually with rugby injuries, but nothing quite like this.

He said: “I’ve broken my nose, I’ve broken my finger, I’ve broken my wrist, I’ve broken my rib. I’ve broken just about everything. I’ve broken all sorts of things, several times in some cases.

“But I’ve never had anything as serious as this.

“Well, no. All I remember feeling was just frustration. I couldn’t see why I wasn’t getting better.

“I was just incredibly frustrated because the bloody indicators kept going in the wrong direction and I thought, ‘There’s no medicine for this thing and there’s no cure’.

“That was the stage when I was thinking, ‘How am I going to get out of this?’”

Things started to deteriorate on the Monday. I realised it was getting serious when they moved me into intensive care.

Boris Johnson

Mr Johnson knew the possible consequences of being placed into an induced coma and connected to a ventilator.

However, he refused to accept he was finished — thanks to his “terrible buoyancy”.

He insisted: “It would be wrong to say that at any stage I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, this is it’.

“Some terrible buoyancy within me kept convincing me that everything would almost certainly be all right in the end.

"But I was just frustrated. I remember seeing a lot of other victims, both going in and going out of intensive care.

“After three nights, thanks to the miraculous work of the medical team, I was returned to the general ward without the need of ventilation.

"I felt so lucky because so many people have suffered so much more than I did.”

BEGINNING 'UNLOCKDOWN'

He went on: “I want to stress this. There are people that I know well, who I’m sure we both know well, who are still on ventilation, who are still in comas.

"There are so many who have suffered, so many families who are still facing huge anxiety.

“So many who have lost loved ones and so if you ask me, ‘Am I driven by a desire to stop other people suffering?’

“Yes, I absolutely am. But I am also driven by an overwhelming desire to get our country as a whole back on its feet, healthy again, going forward in a way that we can and I’m very ­confident we’ll get there.

Changed by his ordeal

By David Wooding

OVER the years, I’ve met or interviewed Boris Johnson many times — but this meeting was like no other.

Not only were we forced to sit far apart for social ­distancing, but it’s clear his brush with death has left him a changed man.

His trademark bounce and optimism are still much in evidence. But he has emerged from the life-changing events of the past few weeks as a much more complex figure.

Boris 2.0 is a man who no longer feels the need to play to the crowd. In just a few short weeks, he has had more thrown at him than most politicians experience in a lifetime. His face betrays a mixture of terror, exhaustion and joy. But most of all relief.

Within a month he has come close to death and recovered quickly enough to witness the birth of his son.

It remains to be seen whether contemplating his own mortality will be a galvanising moment that makes him a great Prime Minister.

But it was clear from the look in his eyes that the events of the past month have already had a marked effect.

The PM will this week outline how Britain will move into what he hailed as “unlockdown”.

Ministers are focussing on reopening primary schools - a move which will allow parents to return to work.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has announced £76million of measures to support domestic abuse victims affected by the lockdown.

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Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds share first pic of baby Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas - named after doctors who saved his life


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2020-05-03 08:58:41Z
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NHS contact-tracing app to be trialled on Isle of Wight this week, cabinet minister reveals - Sky News

An NHS contact-tracing app aimed at limiting the future spread of coronavirus will be trialled on the Isle of Wight this week, a cabinet minister has told Sky News.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps revealed the English Channel island will be the first place in the UK where the new, "exciting" NHS smartphone app will be used.

It has previously been suggested that areas that trial the contact-tracing app could also have coronavirus lockdown measures eased, in an experiment of how the entire UK could exit stringent social distancing rules.

Speaking to Sky News' Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, Mr Shapps explained how the NHS app would "alert people if they've been near somebody who is later diagnosed with having coronavirus".

He added this would be "a fantastic way to ensure that we are really able to keep a lid on this going forward and we don't get that second wave" of COVID-19 infections.

As well as the NHS app, the government have promised to employ 18,000 contact-tracers by the middle of this month, as it pursues a "test, track and trace" strategy with a view to lifting the UK's lockdown.

"Later in the month, that app will be rolled out and deployed - assuming the tests are successful, of course - to the population at large," Mr Shapps said.

More from Covid-19

"The idea is we will encourage as many people to take this up as possible.

"It's going to be a huge national effort.

"We need for this to work, 50% to 60% of people to be using this app."

Mr Shapps described downloading the app, when it is available across the country, as "the best possible way to help the NHS".

Referencing the weekly "Clap For Carers" applause, he said: "On a Thursday night, when people are going out and clapping in future, the ability to do something else of use, which will be to download that app, will be a great way to support the NHS."

The transport secretary said the app would be "completely confidential" and explained people would not be told who it was they had interacted with who had been diagnosed with coronavirus.

He suggested, in future, those coming to the UK would be required to download the app as part of stricter rules at airports.

Mr Shapps could not say how many of the promised 18,000 contact-tracers had already been recruited but vowed, when the app is ready for UK-wide deployment, "we will have the people in place".

"As you've seen, people are more than willing to come forward and be incredibly public-spirited when it comes to defeating this as a nation," he added.

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2020-05-03 08:23:25Z
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Coronavirus latest: at a glance - News Info Park

Key developments in the global coronavirus outbreak today include:

Warren Buffett says ‘world has changed’ for airlines

Warren Buffett, the legendary American investor, has dumped his firm’s holdings in the four major US airlines, warning that the “world has changed” for the aviation industry in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. In comments that will send shockwaves through financial markets already pulverised by the economic shock of the outbreak, Buffett said the outbreak could have an “extraordinarily wide” range of possible economic outcomes.

Global cases near 3.5 million as death toll approaches 250,000

According to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker there were 3,428,422 confirmed cases worldwide on Sunday, with 243,831 people losing their lives to the disease. The US continues to be the most affected country, with more than 1.3 million cases and 66,385 deaths.

Only 17% of Brits want schools, pubs and restaurants reopened

Fewer than one in five Britons believe the time is right to consider reopening schools, restaurants, pubs and stadiums. The findings, in a new poll for the Observer, suggest Boris Johnson will struggle to convince people to return their lives to normal if he tries to ease the lockdown soon. The poll by Opinium, taken between Wednesday and Friday last week, found 17% of people think the conditions have been met to consider reopening schools, against 67% who say they have not been, and that they should stay closed.

Half of UK doctors say they have had to source their own PPE

Almost half of Britain’s doctors have sourced their own personal protective equipment or relied on a donation when none was available through normal NHS channels, according to a survey. The British Medical Association said its latest survey was the biggest of frontline NHS staff during the coronavirus crisis.

European leaders join forces to combat Covid-19

European leaders have pledged to raise billions of pounds to help find a vaccine and treatments for Covid-19 as part of an “international alliance” fighting the disease. An online pledging conference due to be held on Monday will aim to pull in €7.5bn (£6.6bn) in funding to support the global response to the coronavirus pandemic.

YouTube deletes conspiracy theorist David Icke’s account

The video-sharing site said the 68-year-old conspiracy theorist David Icke had violated its policies on sharing information about coronavirus. The former footballer has made controversial unproven claims about the virus on several internet platforms, including one that it is linked to the 5G mobile network.

India imposes jail lockdowns as virus spreads in overcrowded prisons

The spread of the coronavirus in India’s notoriously crowded prisons has prompted authorities to impose jail lockdowns and release thousands of pretrial detainees on parole, as health experts worry that the cramped facilities are serving as breeding grounds for the disease. Although there are no official numbers on how many inmates have been infected by the virus, India’s correction facilities are slowly recording more infections and have temporarily banned visitors.

Boris Johnson’s doctors had plan to announce his death

Boris Johnson has revealed that doctors prepared to announce his death as he spent three nights in intensive care last month. Britain’s PM told the Sun on Sunday: “They had a strategy to deal with a ‘death of Stalin’-type scenario. The doctors had all sorts of arrangements for what to do if things went badly wrong.” Johnson, 55, said: “The bad moment came when it was 50-50 whether they were going to have to put a tube down my windpipe. That was when it got a bit … they were starting to think about how to handle it presentationally.”

Travel within China surges

China’s most populous cities saw a leap in outbound travellers, tourists and day-trippers on 1 May, first day of a long holiday weekend, led by Wuhan, epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic that first struck the country late last year. The number of people travelling outside their home cities jumped nearly 50% at the start of the Labour Day weekend, compared with the first day of the Tomb Sweeping holiday on 4 April, according to Reuters calculations on data from China’s internet giant Baidu Inc.

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2020-05-03 07:12:52Z
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Coronavirus: Boris Johnson tells of intensive care experience - BBC News

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus outbreak this Sunday morning.

1. PM needed 'litres and litres' of oxygen

Boris Johnson has told of how "lucky" he felt to leave intensive care after treatment for coronavirus. The PM told the Sun on Sunday "contingency plans" were made while "litres and litres of oxygen" helped keep him alive, adding the experience left him driven to stop others suffering and get the UK "back on its feet".

2. 'Covid toe' and other rashes puzzle doctors

A small study by Spanish doctors has identified five rashes - including chilblain-like marks labelled "Covid toe" - affecting some hospital patients with the virus. Researchers say they tend to appear late in the illness, so are no good for diagnosis, but the study could prove helpful in understanding the virus.

3. 'I'm constantly scared'

When Karolina Padolskyte contracted coronavirus, along with husband Steve and baby daughter Amaya, they kept a video diary. Their film captures the dread of the low points and shows how they coped.

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4. Masks compulsory on Spanish public transport

The Spanish government says masks will be compulsory for public transport passengers from Monday. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the government would distribute 6m masks, mainly at transport locations, and give another 7m to local authorities, as the country adjust to life with lockdown eased.

5. The rise of the lockdown milkmen and women

Life has changed in many unexpected ways since the pandemic arrived on UK shores, not least for Ian Beardwell. He's been leaving milk on people's doorsteps for 31 years and is just one of hundreds finding their floats fuller - and "thank you" notes left in empties - as demand for deliveries surges.


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And don't forget...

You can find more information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page.

With millions of people soon to be asked to track their movements to help limit the spread of virus using apps, you can read how contact tracing works, whether you have to take part, and what happens to your data.


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2020-05-03 03:59:55Z
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Sabtu, 02 Mei 2020

Coronavirus: Johnson reveals 'contingency plans' made during treatment - BBC News

Boris Johnson has revealed "contingency plans" were made while he was seriously ill in hospital with coronavirus.

In an interview with the Sun on Sunday, the PM says he was given "litres and litres of oxygen" to keep him alive.

He says his week in London's St Thomas' Hospital left him driven by a desire to both stop others suffering and to get the UK "back on its feet".

Earlier, his fiancee, Carrie Symonds, revealed they had named their baby boy Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson.

The names are a tribute to their grandfathers and two doctors who treated Mr Johnson while he was in hospital with coronavirus, Ms Symonds wrote in an Instagram post.

The boy was born on Wednesday, just weeks after Mr Johnson's discharge from intensive care.

In his newspaper interview, the prime minister describes being wired up to monitors and finding the "indicators kept going in the wrong direction".

"It was a tough old moment, I won't deny it," he's quoted as saying, adding that he kept asking himself: "How am I going to get out of this?"

Mr Johnson had been diagnosed with coronavirus on March 26 and was admitted to hospital 10 days later. The following day, he was moved to intensive care.

"It was hard to believe that in just a few days my health had deteriorated to this extent," the prime minister tells the Sun on Sunday.

"The doctors had all sorts of arrangements for what to do if things went badly wrong."

His recovery, he says, was down to "wonderful, wonderful nursing".

Mr Johnson says he felt "lucky", given so many others were still suffering, adding: "And so if you ask me, 'Am I driven by a desire to stop other people suffering?' Yes, I absolutely am.

"But I am also driven by an overwhelming desire to get our country as a whole back on its feet, healthy again, going forward in a way that we can and I'm very confident we'll get there."

Fewer patients hospitalised

The total number of reported coronavirus-related deaths in the UK now stands at 28,131 - an increase of 621 on Friday's figure.

However, England's deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries said the number of people being treated in hospitals for the virus had fallen by 13% over the past week.

On Saturday, the government pledged £76m to support vulnerable children, victims of domestic violence and modern slavery, who were "trapped" at home during the lockdown.

The announcement followed reports of a "surge" in violence in the weeks since the lockdown was introduced.

Mr Johnson has been back in charge of the government since last Sunday. But he was in Downing Street a matter of days before Ms Symonds gave birth.

When posting their newborn's photograph on Instagram, she said his second middle name, Nicholas, was a tribute to "Dr Nick Price and Dr Nick Hart - the two doctors that saved Boris' life".

This offered "an insight into just how serious things were for the prime minister" after contracting the virus, said BBC political correspondent Jonathan Blake.

Dr Nick Price and Prof Nick Hart offered their "warm congratulations" to the PM and Ms Symonds.

They said in a statement: "We are honoured and humbled to have been recognised in this way, and we give our thanks to the incredible team of professionals who we work with at Guy's and St Thomas' and who ensure every patient receives the best care.

"We wish the new family every health and happiness."

In other developments:

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2020-05-03 03:49:09Z
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