Boris Johnson 'reluctant to end lockdown amid fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections' - Tech

Boris Johnson is understood to be reluctant to ease the coronavirus lockdown over fears of a second wave of infections.

The prime minister has told colleagues his ‘over-riding concern’ is to avoid a second wave of the pandemic and a fresh spike in cases, according to the Times.

During a two-hour meeting on Friday with foreign secretary Dominic Raab, Dominic senior adviser Cummings, Lee Cain, director of communications and cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill, Mr Johnson was said to have outlined these concerns.

Mr Johnson seems to be taking a more cautious stance on when to begin reopening the economy than Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Minister for the Cabinet Office, Michael Gove who want to minimise the damage of the lockdown to businesses.

Mr Johnson recording a video message on Easter Sunday at Number 10 after his release from the hospital, before leaving for Chequers to recover from his illness

Health secretary, Matt Hancock, argued that before easing restrictions the government should try to suppress the virus for longer so its transmission rate becomes much lower.

Revelations of Mr Johnson’s concerns come as it emerged pubs and restaurants could remain closed until the winter, as Mr Gove said hospitality would be ‘among the last to exit the lockdown’.

A government source told the Times: ‘The idea that we will be rushing to lift measures is a non-starter.

‘If the transmission rate rises significantly we will have to do a harder lockdown again.’

Last week Gove and Sunak suggested that once the peak of the virus had passed and the transmission rate lowered, the government should ‘run things quite hot’ and ease restrictions.

The source added: ‘It’s a question of how comfortable you are with the virus circulating in the community.’

The come amid a growing row over the government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak and claims Boris Johnson skipped five Cobra meetings in the lead up to the pandemic

On Sunday a Sunday Times article claimed the Johnson administration ‘just watched’ as the death toll mounted in Wuhan during January and February.

A Whitehall source claimed the Government ‘missed the boat on testing and PPE’ (personal protective equipment) during a vital period before the outbreak took hold in Britain.

This evening, Number 10 accused the Sunday Times of ‘falsehoods’ and ‘errors’ in a six-page rebuttal of the article.

And while Mr Gove confirmed the report that the PM had not attended five meetings of the key Government committee Cobra in the run-up to the crisis, he insisted this was not unusual.

He confirmed the PM did not attend the meetings, but added: ‘He didn’t. But then he wouldn’t. Because most Cobra meetings don’t have the Prime Minister attending them.’

Number 10 also insisted Mr Johnson, who is currently recovering from coronavirus at Chequers after spending several nights in intensive care last week, ‘has been at the helm’ of the government’s response to the crisis.

Speaking yesterday, Mr Gove said the accusation the PM purposefully sidestepped these five meetings was ‘grotesque’.

Gavin Williamson also insisted that Boris Johnson was ‘driving’ the government’s coronavirus response despite ‘skipping’ five Cobra meetings at the start of the outbreak.

The Education Secretary defended the PM’s handling amid a mounting backlash at the slow action in gearing up to the looming crisis.

Mr Johnson has been accused of taking a backseat role in shoring up the nation’s pandemic defences during January and February, despite mounting concern from scientists over the accelerating health emergency in Wuhan.

Revelations of Mr Johnson’s concerns come as it emerged pubs and restaurants could remain closed until the winter, as Michael Gove (pictured) said hospitality would be ‘among the last to exit the lockdown’.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak (right) wants to minimise the damage of the lockdown to businesses. Matt Hancock (left) – Secretary of State for Health and Social Care – argued that before easing restrictions the government should try to suppress the virus for longer so its transmission rate becomes much lower.

A senior Downing Street adviser told the investigation that Mr Johnson’s decision to take ‘country breaks’ underscored his lack of urgency in the early stages of coronavirus planning.

As his more junior colleagues took the reins on virus mitigation, Mr Johnson’s personal life reportedly commanded his attention, namely how to break the news of Carrie Symonds’ pregnancy to his family.

The insider also alleged that Whitehall had been fixated on Brexit, and long-term crisis preparations fell by the wayside as key staff were diverted from pandemic contingencies to thrash out no-deal planning.

It also emerged the government shipped 260,000 items of personal protective equipment to China amid warning sirens from doctors that the UK was woefully under-prepared to cope with a pandemic.

Former chief government science adviser David King told Sky News yesterday that he could not recall a Cobra meeting during his time in Whitehall that was not chaired by Tony Blair or Gordon Brown.

But asked at the daily No10 press briefing about Mr Johnson’s absence from Cobra meetings until the beginning of March, Mr Williamson said: ‘The Prime Minister from the moment that it became clear that there were challenges in terms of coronavirus developing in China has absolutely been leading our nation’s effort to combat the coronavirus, making sure that resources or money is not a concern for any department, especially the health service.’

He added that ‘many Cobra meetings’ are led by the departmental minister.

He said: ‘The focus the Prime Minister was putting on this and has continued to put on this has meant that this is the whole Government effort.’

Mr Gove, who is part of the so-called ‘quad’ of ministers steering the government’s response while the PM recovers from his own battle with the disease, this morning called the allegations ‘off-beam’.

Speaking to Sky’s Sophy Ridge, the minister for the cabinet office said: ‘There are one or two aspects of the Sunday Times report that are slightly off-beam.’

He confirmed the PM did not attend the Cobra meetings, but added: ‘He didn’t. But then he wouldn’t. Because most Cobra meetings don’t have the Prime Minister attending them.

His remarks were scorned by Labour’s Jon Ashworth, who branded them ‘possibly the weakest rebuttal of a detailed expose in British political history.’

It also emerged today that the government shipped 260,000 items of personal protective equipment to China amid warning sirens from doctors that the UK was woefully under-prepared to cope with a pandemic.

Medial care staff have expressed alarm as surgeons are being advised ‘not to risk their health’ by working without adequate PPE amid fears that hospitals could run out of supplies.

Mr Sunak is also facing mounting pressure to boost his business bailout so that the Government increases its guarantee on loans to struggling firms to 100 per cent.

The Treasury will today announce a further £1.25billion package to support innovative firms hit as the virus lockdown causes the economy to stutter to a halt.

It will include a £500million loans fund for high-growth companies and £750million in loans and grants for small firms focused on research and development.

Government furiously hits back at claims Boris ‘skipped’ Cobra meetings and ministers dragged their feet over coronavirus in lengthy 14-point rebuttal

Downing Street has hit back at newspaper reports that Boris Johnson and his administration dragged their feet in the run-up to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Number 10 accused the Sunday Times of ‘falsehoods’ and ‘errors’ after the newspaper published a piece in which a Whitehall source claimed the Government ‘missed the boat on testing and PPE’ (personal protective equipment).

The article also claimed the Johnson administration ‘just watched’ as the death toll mounted in Wuhan, China.

The government confirmed the prime minister missed five Cobra meetings in January and February as the outbreak began to take hold in other countries.

A senior Downing Street adviser told the bombshell investigation that Mr Johnson’s decision to take ‘country breaks’ at Chequers underscored his lack of urgency in the early stages of coronavirus planning.

But this evening the Government pushed back on the claims, saying in a six-page rebuttal published online that it was ‘guided at all times by the best scientific advice’.

A spokesman said: ‘This article contains a series of falsehoods and errors and actively misrepresents the enormous amount of work which was going on in government at the earliest stages of the coronavirus outbreak.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressing the nation from 10 Downing Street as he announces the lockdown on March 23

The Government’s full 14-point response to claims that ministers dragged their feet over coronavirus response

Claim – On the third Friday in January Coronavirus was already spreading around the world but the government ‘brushed aside’ the threat in an hour-long COBR meeting and said the risk to the UK public was ‘low’.

Response – At a very basic level, this is wrong. The meeting was on the fourth Friday in January. The article also misrepresents the Government’s awareness of Covid 19, and the action we took before this point. Health Secretary Matt Hancock was first alerted to Covid 19 on 3 January and spoke to Departmental officials on 6th Jan before receiving written advice from the UK Health Security Team.

He brought the issue to the attention of the Prime Minister and they discussed Covid 19 on 7 January. The government’s scientific advisory groups started to meet in mid-January and Mr Hancock instituted daily coronavirus meetings. He updated Parliament as soon as possible, on January 23rd.

The risk level was set to “Low” because at the time our scientific advice was that the risk level to the UK public at that point was low. The first UK case was not until 31 January. The specific meaning of “public health risk” refers to the risk there is to the public at precisely that point. The risk was also higher than it had been before – two days earlier it had been increased “Very Low” to “Low” in line with clinical guidance from the Chief Medical Officer.

The WHO did not formally declare that coronavirus was a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) until 30 January, and only characterised it as a global pandemic more than a month later, on 11 March. The UK was taking action and working to improve its preparedness from early January.

Claim – ‘This was despite the publication that day of an alarming study by Chinese doctors in the medical journal The Lancet. It assessed the lethal potential of the virus, for the first time suggesting it was comparable to the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, which killed up to 50 million people.’

Response – The editor of the Lancet, on exactly the same day – 23 January – called for “caution” and accused the media of ‘escalating anxiety by talking of a ‘killer virus’ and ‘growing fears’. He wrote: ‘In truth, from what we currently know, 2019-nCoV has moderate transmissibility and relatively low pathogenicity. There is no reason to foster panic with exaggerated language.’ The Sunday Times is suggesting that there was a scientific consensus around the fact that this was going to be a pandemic – that is plainly untrue.

Claim – It was unusual for the Prime Minister to be absent from COBR and is normally chaired by the Prime Minister.

Response – This is wrong. It is entirely normal and proper for COBR to be chaired by the relevant Secretary of State. Then Health Secretary Alan Johnson chaired COBR in 2009 during H1N1. Michael Gove chaired COBR as part of No Deal planning. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps chaired COBR during the collapse of Thomas Cook. Mr Hancock was in constant communication with the PM throughout this period.

At this point the World Health Organisation had not declared COVID19 a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’, and only did so only 30 January. Indeed, they chose not to declare a PHEIC the day after the COBR meeting.

Examples of scientific commentary from the time:

Prof Martin Hibberd, Professor of Emerging Infectious Disease, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said:

“This announcement is not surprising as more evidence may be needed to make the case of announcing a PHEIC. WHO were criticised after announcing the pandemic strain of novel H1N1_2009, when the virus was eventually realised to have similar characteristics to seasonal influenza and is perhaps trying to avoid making the same mistake here with this novel coronavirus. To estimate the true severity of this new disease requires identifying mild or asymptomatic cases, if there are any, while determining the human to human transmission rate might require more evidence.”

Dr Adam Kamradt-Scott, Senior Lecturer in International Security Studies, University of Sydney, said: “Based on the information we have to date, the WHO Director-General’s decision to not declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern is not especially surprising. While we have seen international spread of the virus, which is one of the criteria for declaring a PHEIC, the cases in those countries do not appear to have seeded further local outbreaks. If that was to start to occur, it would constitute a greater concern but at the moment the outbreak is largely contained within China.”

Claim – ‘Imperial’s Ferguson was already working on his own estimate — putting infectivity at 2.6 and possibly as high as 3.5 — which he sent to ministers and officials in a report on the day of the Cobra meeting on January 24. The Spanish flu had an estimated infectivity rate of between 2.0 and 3.0, so Ferguson’s finding was shocking.’

Response – Infectivity on its own simply reveals how quickly a disease spreads, and not its health impact. For that, it is necessary to know about data such as associated mortality/morbidity. It is sloppy and unscientific to use this number alone to compare to Spanish flu.

Claim – No10 ‘played down the looming threat’ from Coronavirus and displayed an ‘almost nonchalant attitude…for more than a month.’

Response – The suggestion that the government’s attitude was nonchalant is wrong. Extensive and detailed work was going on in government because of Coronavirus, as shown above.

Claim – By the time the Prime Minister chaired a COBR meeting on March 2 ‘the virus had sneaked into our airports, our trains, our workplaces and our homes. Britain was on course for one of the worst infections of the most insidious virus to have hit the world in a century.’

Response – This virus has hit countries across the world. It is ridiculous to suggest that coronavirus only reached the UK because the Health Secretary and not the PM chaired a COBR meeting.

Claim – ‘Failure of leadership’ by anonymous senior advisor to Downing Street.

Response – The Prime Minister has been at the helm of the Government response to Covid 19, providing the leadership to steer his Ministerial team through a hugely challenging period for the whole nation. This anonymous source is variously described as a ‘senior adviser to Downing Street’ and a ‘senior Downing Street adviser’. The two things are not the same. One suggests an adviser employed by the government in No10. The other someone who provides ad hoc advice. Which is it?

Claim – The government sent 279,000 items of its depleted stockpile of protective equipment to China during this period in response to a request for help from the authorities there.

Response – The equipment was not from the pandemic stockpile. We provided this equipment to China at the height of their need and China has since reciprocated our donation many times over. Between April 2-April 15 we have received over 12 million pieces of PPE in the UK from China.

Claim – Little was done to equip the National Health Service for the coming crisis in this period.

Response – This is wrong. The NHS has responded well to Coronavirus, and has provided treatment to everyone in critical need. We have constructed the new Nightingale hospitals and extended intensive care capacity in other hospitals.

Claim – Among the key points likely to be explored are why it took so long to recognise an urgent need for a massive boost in supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers; ventilators to treat acute respiratory symptoms; and tests to detect the infection.

Response – The Department for Health began work on boosting PPE stocks in January, before the first confirmed UK case.

Discussions on PPE supply for COVID-19 began w/c 27 January (as part of Medical Devices and Clinical Consumables), with the first supply chain kick-off meeting on 31 January. The first additional orders of PPE was placed on 30 January via NHS Supply Chain’s ‘just-in-time contracts’. BAU orders of PPE were ramped up around the same date.

Friday, 7 February, the department held a webinar for suppliers trading from or via China and the European Union. Over 700 delegates joined and heard the Department’s requests to carry out full supply chain risk assessments and hold onto EU exit stockpiles where they had been retained.

Monday, 10 February, the department spoke with the major patient groups and charities to update them on the situation regarding the outbreak and to update them on the steps it was taking to protect supplies.

Tuesday, 11 February, the department wrote to all suppliers in scope of the Covid 19 supply response work – those trading from or via China or the EU – repeating the messages from the webinar and updating suppliers on the current situation relating to novel coronavirus.

The NHS has spare ventilator capacity and we are investing in further capacity.

Claim – Suggestion that ‘lack of grip’ had the knock-on effect of the national lockdown being introduced days or even weeks too late, causing many thousands more unnecessary deaths.

Response – The government started to act as soon as it was alerted to a potential outbreak. Mr Hancock was first alerted to Covid 19 on 3 January and spoke to Departmental officials on 6th Jan before receiving written advice from the UK Health Security Team. He brought the issue to the attention of the Prime Minister and they discussed Covid 19 on 7 January.

The government’s scientific advisory groups started to meet in mid-January and Hancock instituted daily meetings to grip the emerging threat. We have taken the right steps at the right time guided by the scientific evidence.

Claim – Scientists said the threat from the coming storm was clear and one of the government’s key advisory committees was given a dire warning a month earlier than has previously been admitted about the prospect of having to deal with mass casualties.

Response – The government followed scientific advice at all times. The WHO only determined that COVID 19 would be a global pandemic on 11 March. Claiming that there was scientific consensus on this is just wrong. Sage met on January 22 but the first NERVTAG meeting was held on 13 January (NERVTAG is the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group – see here https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/new-and-emerging-respiratory-virus-threats-advisory-group ).

Claim – The last rehearsal for a pandemic was a 2016 exercise codenamed Cygnus, which predicted the health service would collapse and highlighted a long list of shortcomings — including, presciently, a lack of PPE and intensive care ventilators.

Response – The Government has been extremely proactive in implementing lessons learnt around pandemic preparedness, including from Exercise Cygnus. This includes being ready with legislative proposals that could rapidly be tailored to what became the Coronavirus Act, plans to strengthen excess death planning, planning for recruitment and deployment of retired staff and volunteers, and guidance for stakeholders and sectors across government.

Claim – By February 21 the virus had already infected 76,000 people, had caused 2,300 deaths in China and was taking a foothold in Europe, with Italy recording 51 cases and two deaths the following day. Nonetheless NERVTAG, one of the key government advisory committees, decided to keep the threat level at “moderate”.

Response – This is a misrepresentation of what the threat level is. This is about the current public health danger – and on February 21, when the UK had about a dozen confirmed cases, out of a population of over 66 million, the actual threat to individuals was moderate. In terms of the potential threat, the government was clear – on 10 February the Secretary of State declared that “the incidence or transmission of novel Coronavirus constituted a serious and imminent threat to public health”.

‘This is an unprecedented global pandemic and we have taken the right steps at the right time to combat it, guided at all times by the best scientific advice.

‘The Government has been working day and night to battle against coronavirus, delivering a strategy designed at all times to protect our NHS and save lives.

‘Our response has ensured that the NHS has been given all the support it needs to ensure everyone requiring treatment has received it, as well as providing protection to businesses and reassurance to workers.

‘The Prime Minister has been at the helm of the response to this, providing leadership during this hugely challenging period for the whole nation.’

The tone of the statement, posted on the official gov.uk website, was much more aggressive than that used by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove on Sunday morning TV appearances when he described the article as ‘off beam’.

Mr Gove had confirmed the Sunday Times report that the PM had not attended five meetings of the key Government committee Cobra in the run-up to the crisis, but insisted this was not unusual.

He confirmed the PM did not attend the meetings, but added: ‘He didn’t. But then he wouldn’t. Because most Cobra meetings don’t have the Prime Minister attending them.’

Number 10 also insisted Mr Johnson ‘has been at the helm’ of the government’s response to the crisis.

Speaking earlier today, Mr Gove said the accusation the PM purposefully sidestepped these five meetings was ‘grotesque’.

He had earlier told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge: ‘The idea that the Prime Minister skipped meetings that were vital to our response to the coronavirus, I think is grotesque.’

That stance was echoed by the Government spokesman who said: ‘It is entirely normal and proper for Cobra to be chaired by the relevant secretary of state.

‘At this point the World Health Organisation had not declared Covid-19 a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’, and only did so only on January 30.

‘Indeed, they chose not to declare a PHEIC the day after the Cobr meeting.’

In reference to the report that the UK sent 279,000 items of protective equipment to China earlier this year, the Government spokesman said: ‘The equipment was not from the pandemic stockpile.

‘We provided this equipment to China at the height of their need and China has since reciprocated our donation many times over. Between April 2-April 15 we have received over 12 million pieces of PPE in the UK from China.’

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth told Sky News: ‘There are serious questions as to why the Prime Minister skipped five Cobra meetings throughout February, when the whole world could see how serious this was becoming.

‘And we know that serious mistakes have been made, we know that our frontline NHS staff don’t have the PPE, that they’ve been told this weekend that they won’t necessarily have the gowns which are vital to keep them safe.

‘We know that our testing capacity is not at the level that is needed.

‘We know that the ventilators that many hospitals have received are the wrong types of ventilators and there are big questions as to whether we went into this lockdown too slowly, and now we hear the Prime Minister missed five meetings at the start of this outbreak. It suggests that early on he was missing in action.’

Former chief government science adviser David King told Sky News today that he could not recall a Cobra meeting during his time in Whitehall that was not chaired by Tony Blair or Gordon Brown.

He told Sky News: ‘What really is emphasised in that piece is the fact that the government ministers had their eye off the ball.

‘They were totally focused on other issues such as Brexit, and the celebration of us emerging from Europe.

‘The Prime Minister had other things on his mind, and we’re fully aware of this, but apparently he didn’t attend five Cobra meetings on this issue.

‘And when Michael Gove says ‘but prime ministers don’t attend all Cobra meetings’, I cannot recall a Cobra meeting when it was called with Blair or Brown as prime minister when the prime minister wasn’t in the chair.’

Damian Green, former de facto deputy prime minister under Theresa May, told Sky News it was ‘not unusual’ for the Prime Minister to miss Cobra meetings.

He said: ‘Cobra meets more often than people think.

‘Cobra meets quite a lot and quite often it’s not chaired by the Prime Minister.

‘There are times when the PM has to be there to chair it, when big decisions need to be made.

‘It’s perfectly sensible to be chaired by the Health Secretary.’

Medial care staff have expressed alarm as surgeons are being advised ‘not to risk their health’ by working without adequate PPE amid fears that hospitals could run out of supplies.

The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) said it was ‘deeply disturbed’ that medics could be asked to reuse items or wear different kit when treating Covid-19 patients.

Healthcare staff treating positive patients have been given guidance that they should wear long-sleeved disposable fluid-repellent gowns but, because of shortages, they have just been advised they could be asked to reuse PPE or wear aprons.

The fear from medics comes as more than 15,000 patients have now died in hospital after testing positive for the disease in the UK, with thousands more deaths expected in care homes.