The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson Refuses to Ease UK Lockdown After Weeks Off, Fighting Coronavirus

The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson is the first world-known leader to be diagnosed with COVID-19. He spent three weeks off from his duties; one-week fighting coronavirus in the hospital and the last two weeks recovering at his country residence.

The 55 years old man returned to his official residence in London on Sunday night, April 26, 2020, after his recovery.

However, the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, is expected to disclose plans for relieving a month-old coronavirus lockdown as early as this week after he returned to Downing Street on Sunday.

Boris Johnson had already discussed with ministers, his plans of amending the lockdown rather than easing it. However, he would ensure that restrictions and social distances will remain in place even if workplaces, businesses, and schools are set to reopen.

Furthermore, Boris Johnson made the expected speech outside 10 Downing Street, and he had a straight message: “Don’t give up on the lockdown yet.”

In his first remarks after returning to work on Monday, Johnson acknowledged that the consequences of easing the restrictions are hard to bear, and the risks would take a heavy toll on the economy.

He warned that the United Kingdom was at “the moment of maximum risk,” and suggested movement restrictions would need to hold still for the time being to avoid a second peak of the infection.

“If this virus were a physical assailant, an unexpected and invisible mugger, which I can tell you from personal experience it is, then this is the moment when we are beginning to wrestle it to the floor,” Johnson said.

Moreover, Johnson’s government has faced criticism for the effortless handling of the disease. This comprises of whether his government took the virus seriously enough in the initial stages of transmission in the United Kingdom, the availability of protective clothing for health workers, restrictions rules, and the country’s low rate of testing.

Another criticism of the UK government is the failure of the government to share her thoughts on how lockdown and movement restrictions would be eased. Johnson said such decisions would be taken with “the maximum possible transparency.”

Neil Ferguson, a professor of mathematical biology at Imperial College London, who sits on the UK government’s scientific advisory committee, said if lockdown measures were maintained only for the elderly and other at-risk groups, there could be 100,000 deaths from coronavirus in the UK this year.

“So, if we want to move away from lockdown – reopen schools, reopen workplaces, let people go shopping again, we have to substitute with other measures,” he said.

“I am sorry I have been away from my desk for much longer than I would have liked,” Johnson said. And he thanked Foreign Secretary Dominican Raab for deputizing for him during his illness.

“I know it is tough, and I want to get this economy moving as fast as I can, but I refuse to throw away all the effort and the sacrifice of the British people and to risk a second major outbreak and huge loss of life and the overwhelming of the NHS,” Johnson said.