In a dramatic escalation of government advice, Boris Johnson, the chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser have said that those with anyone in their household with a fever or a new continuous cough should self-isolate for a fortnight. They also urged even those without any symptoms to avoid non-essential social contact – so no trips to the pub or the theatre – to work from home where possible and that the vulnerable should soon begin to self-isolate.
Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, explained that these measures were necessary as we were now moving into the ‘upswing of the curve’. He said, in a slightly defensive note, that the UK was actually moving on social distancing at an earlier stage in the transmission of the virus than many other countries.
Boris Johnson stressed that Londoners needed to pay special attention to this advice as the virus had progressed more there than in the rest of the country.
It is also clear that these measures are going to be in place for some time. Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, said that people needed to realise that the country was in for this the ‘long haul’ and we are talking ‘weeks, months, maybe longer’. The government is still resisting pressures, though, to close schools.
Whitty said that Public Health England were working on a test to tell who has had the virus and that this would be ‘transformational’. This would, for instance, allow health service staff who have had the virus to remain on the front line even if they have a cough. Equally, it would allow those who have had it to volunteer to deliver food and medicine to the doors of those having to self-isolate.
The advice issued tonight is going to change how we live. It is going to have a profound impact on both society and the economy. I suspect that the £12 billion of corona measures announced in the Budget will turn out to be just the start of what the government has to spend to try and limit the social and economic damage caused by this virus.
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