Lockdown rundown: Downing Street hints could last to 2021, Merkel gives dire warning, some American states begin lifting measures

RT
Thu, 23 Apr 2020 17:03 UTC

© AFP / Tolga Akmen

Empty streets are pictured in Westminster, central London

A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson has refused to rule out the possibility that stringent social distancing measures aimed at controlling the spread of Covid-19 could remain in place until next year.

Asked about the prospect of some lockdown measures lasting into 2021 during a press briefing on Thursday, the prime minister's spokesman would only say that the government would do "everything we can" to keep the infection rate down.

Downing Street also refused to roll back on remarks made by England's chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, during the daily Covid-19 briefing on Wednesday, in which he revealed that the country will most likely need "very socially disruptive measures" into next year.

Whitty also gave a stark warning to the British public, saying they needed to be "realistic" about society returning "back to normal," claiming that could only happen with the availability of a vaccine or an effective treatment.

Johnson's administration is grappling with the 'when' and 'how' of relaxing lockdown measures, which are currently in place until at least May 7. The prospect of social distancing measures still being enforced by the turn of the year would be a massive blow, particularly to the hospitality, entertainment and leisure sectors.

The PM's spokesman on Thursday stressed that it was too early to discuss lifting the lockdown, but insisted that "the key to this is not having a second peak."

Meanwhile, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has started laying out plans to restore "some semblance of normality" by easing some of the coronavirus-related restrictions, but warned that it's too soon for any dramatic changes.

Downing Street's comments come as more than 500 brave volunteers received the first doses of a Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday as part of UK clinical trials. The vaccine has been developed by teams at the University of Oxford's Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine Group.

UK Covid-19 figures published by the Department of Health and Social Care on Thursday recorded 138,078 cases of the disease - resulting in 18,738 deaths - 616 in the last 24-hour period.

Comment: Scotland's Sturgeon laid out an initial plan to phase out the lockdown, saying it was time to have a 'grown up' conversation about returning to normality. But she too made sure to include a dire warning:

"A return to normal as we knew it is not on the cards in the near future... What we will be seeking to do is find a new normal - a way of living alongside this virus but in a form that keeps it under control," she said. Sturgeon added that social distancing and limiting contact with others will be "a fact of life" until Covid-19 treatments and vaccines offer new solutions.

In the U.S., Trump 'strongly' disagreed with Georgia's decision to lift their lockdown:

"I told the governor of Georgia that I disagree strongly with his decision to reopen certain facilities... which are in violation of the federal phase one guidelines," Trump told reporters at a White House briefing on Wednesday, adding that the state should "wait a little longer."

Although the president took issue with the Republican governor's decision, which has drawn major backlash from the opposition, he said he would not interfere, leaving the matter at Kemp's discretion. "I disagree with his decision but he has to do what he thinks is right."

For his part, Fauci is 'convinced' the U.S. should brace for a return of the virus in fall, with the CDC warning that it is 'likely' to be 'even more devastating'. That 'likely' is likely entirely made up, i.e., it's BS. They have no way of predicting that kind of thing.

Merkel said people shouldn't be complacent:

It is precisely because the figures give rise to hope that I feel obliged to say that this interim result is fragile. We are on thin ice, the thinnest ice even. We are still far from out of the woods. We are not living in the final phase of the pandemic, but still at the beginning.

France plans for schools and businesses to all reopen on May 11 across the entire country, i.e. all regions must lift lockdown measures at the same time. Over in Russia, 21 regions plan to adopt the QR-code system already in use in Moscow to restrict movement during their quarantine.