Boris Johnson admits coronavirus isn’t responding to ANY interventions

Britain hopes to turn the tide on the coronavirus within the next 12 weeks. But, Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted for that to happen it was critical for Brits to follow government advice so that the number of those acquiring the virus is decreasing by the end of June. But during the press conference on Thursday, he admitted coronavirus is not responding to the measures “at the moment”.
“What I want us to do is it get on top of it, at the moment, the disease is proceeding in a way that does not seem yet to be responding to our interventions,” he told a news conference.
“I believe that a combination of the measures that we’re asking the public to take and better testing, scientific progress, will enable us to get on top of it within the next 12 weeks.
“I cannot stand here and tell you that by the end of June we will be on a downward slope. It’s possible but I simply can’t say that that’s for certain.”
Despite this, Mr Johnson announced he is confident coronavirus will be ‘sent packing’ in just 12 weeks amid questions as to how long Britons will be isolated.
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He said the tide can be turned in the coronavirus fight within the next 12 weeks as he updated the public on the timetable for restrictions.
Speaking from Downing Street, Mr Johnson said: “We can see the impact this is having on the UK economy and businesses so it’s vital that Government stands behind them – what we are asking everyone to do is so crucial in saving literally thousands of lives by defeating this virus.
“I’m conscious as the days have gone by that people will want to know how long we are expecting them to keep it up.
“I wanted to try and say something today about how I see the time scale of this campaign and where we’re going.
“It is early days but if it works as its proponents claim, then we will buy literally hundreds of thousands of these kits as soon as practicable because obviously it has the potential to be a total game-changer.”
Mr Johnson said: “By the same token we’re massively increasing the testing to see whether you have it now and ramping up daily testing from 5,000 a day, to 10,000 to 25,000 and then up at 250,000.”
His statement comes as the Queen has issued a message of solidarity to the nation amid the coronavirus pandemic, saying the country’s “history has been forged by people and communities coming together to work as one”.
The 93-year-old monarch, in her first public statement on the crisis, said the UK was “entering a period of great concern and uncertainty”, but the British public was up to the challenges ahead.
Published at Thu, 19 Mar 2020 18:57:00 +0000