Coronavirus: UK to have 'socially disruptive measures' until at least the end of the year
Social distancing measures will be required for the rest of 2020, according to the chief medical officer.
Thursday 23 April 2020 13:44, UK
The UK is going to have to live with some form of "socially disruptive measures" for at least the rest of the year, England's chief medical officer has said.
Speaking at the daily government coronavirus briefing on Wednesday, Chris Whitty explained that an exit from the lockdown and social distance measures imposed since the outbreak required a "highly effective vaccine and/or highly effective drugs".
The chance of having both by the end of this year was "incredibly small" and until then the UK would need to rely on disruptive social distancing measures, he said.
"This disease will not be eradicated, it will not disappear.
"In the long run, the exit from this is going to be one of two things, ideally.
"A vaccine, and there are a variety of ways they can be deployed... or highly effective drugs so that people stop dying of this disease even if they catch it, or which can prevent this disease in vulnerable people.
"Until we have those, and the probability of having those any time in the next calendar year are incredibly small and I think we should be realistic about that, we're going to have to rely on other social measures, which of course are very socially disruptive, as everyone is finding at the moment.
"But until that point, that is what we will have to do but it will be the best combination that maximises the outlooks. But it's going to take a long time and I think we need to be aware of that."
The number of daily deaths of people with coronavirus in the UK has "flattened off", but there will be no "sudden fall away" in cases, Mr Whitty said.
However, the downward movement in deaths in other countries has been fairly slow and the UK should expect the same, he added.
"Even in those countries which started their epidemic curve earlier than the UK, and which are still ahead, the downward slope from the point where we change is a relatively slow one.
"We should anticipate the same situation in the UK. We should not expect this to be a sudden fall away of cases."
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is standing in to lead the government response as Boris Johnson recovers from the virus, warned there could be a second spike in cases and a second lockdown if restrictions are relaxed now.
He said: "We are making progress through the peak of this virus - but we're not out of the woods yet."
:: Listen to the Daily podcast on , , ,
It comes after MPs were told the UK is "at the peak" of the coronavirus outbreak as the number of UK hospital deaths rose above 18,000.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock, delivering an update on the government's COVID-19 response in the House of Commons, thanked the British public for their "steadfast commitment" in following lockdown rules.
In his first Prime Minister's Questions since becoming Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer accused the government of being behind the curve on lockdown, testing and driving up supplies of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) required by nurses and doctors.
During the news conference, Mr Whitty insisted the UK has enough PPE at the national level but there were local shortages that could persist.
Doctors on the frontline have said they do not have enough PPE, particularly with a shortage of protective gowns.
Mr Whitty said: "We are still close to the line.
"At national level we're not under water on anything that I'm aware of... but of course there may be local issues."