Britain today recorded 10,641 coronavirus infections in the first week-on-week rise since the beginning of January, while deaths have tumbled to the lowest levels since mid-December with 178 new victims.
Department of Health figures show Covid cases are 9 per cent up on last Monday, when 9,765 were declared. But fatalities have dropped by almost a quarter, from 230.
Separate data also show Britain dished out just 150,000 vaccines yesterday, in the worst daily performance since the mammoth NHS roll-out began to gather speed last month. A successful inoculation drive is crucial to Britain’s hopes of lockdown being eased drastically in the next few month.
The figures come as Boris Johnson today defied huge pressure from Tories and business today to unveil an ultra-cautious ‘roadmap’ out of lockdown.
Announcing his long-awaited four-phase exit strategy, the Prime Minister warned the ‘threat remains’ and cases, hospitalisations and deaths will rise in the coming months as no vaccines can offer 100 per cent protection for the whole population.
In other Covid developments today:
- Teaching unions have demanded Boris Johnson scrap his plan to reopen all schools in England on March 8 in favour of a more cautious phased return to classrooms;
- Mr Zahawi said that the government was hoping this will be the last ‘severe’ coronavirus lockdown in England;
- Labour has insisted it supports schools reopening in full on March 8 despite opposition from teaching unions and Sir Keir Starmer saying there must be a considered approach;
- One in three adults have received a Covid jab as the government brings forward its target for vaccinating the whole population to July;
- Scientists have hailed early data showing the vaccines reduce transmission of coronavirus as well as easing its effects;
- The funeral of Captain Sir Tom Moore will be held on Saturday, in what the family said would be a ‘small’ service.
Discussing his four-stage lockdown-easing strategy, Mr Johnson told MPs: ‘At every stage our decisions will be led by data not dates.’
Mr Johnson said there will be a five-week gap between the main steps in the roadmap, even longer than had been anticipated.
He said it takes four weeks to assess the impact of each step, and the country needs a week’s notice for changes. Going any faster could mean having to reimpose the lockdown — but he added: ‘I won’t take that risk.
He admitted that the surging vaccine drive had encouraged many to think it is possible to ‘go faster’, and insisted that he understood their frustration but said: ‘To them I say the end really is in sight.’
The PM confirmed that all schools will reopen from March 8. But secondary pupils will need to wear masks in class for ‘weeks’ after the move – and there are precious few other easings until Easter, with scientists seemingly having won the battle for a slow approach.
The only other relaxation to come with schools returning is permission to meet socially with one friend or family member in the park for a coffee or a picnic.
The next stage of loosening will not be until March 29, when the formal Stay at Home edict is finally dropped in favour of ‘Stay Local’, and the Rule of Six makes a comeback. It will be extended to allow two households to gather, enabling relatives to meet properly for the first time in months.
That date will also see the reopening of tennis courts and golf courses and the return of grassroots football.
But shops, hairdressers and pubs must remain closed until April 12 at the earliest – the same time gyms can get back up and running – regardless of mounting fears about the economic meltdown. Even at that point pints and meals can only be consumed outdoors.
Campsites and holiday lets can reopen for single households from April 12 – but international travel is completely off the cards until at least May 17.
And social distancing rules will stay in force until June 21 at the minimum, with a government review to decide their future after that. The decision means that grandparents face months of waiting before they can hug their grandchildren – even though millions have already been vaccinated.
Another review will be held at that point to decide whether a system of vaccine certificates could be deployed within the UK to help open up the economy, something the government has previously said it is not considering.
Sports can start to return from May 17, although venues will need to work on reduced capacities.
Up to 30 people can go to weddings from the same date, but are stuck at that number until the next phase of the roadmap.
Only at June 21 will all legal limits on social contact go, and the remaining elements of the hospitality sector be allowed to open. The PM stressed that he is being driven by ‘data not dates’ and the timeline is not guaranteed.
The blueprint, which runs to 60 pages, includes a raft of modelling supporting No10’s tentative strategy. It was published alongside further positive news about the effectiveness of jabs in reducing transmission.
A major study published today found they were working ‘spectacularly well’ and cutting hospital admissions by as much as 95 per cent.
But Mr Johnson ran the gauntlet of anger on his own benches this afternoon, as he set four tests for continuing with any easing including no new concerns emerging about variant strains.
The other criteria are the vaccine rollout going well, jabs being effective at reducing hospital admissions and deaths, and avoiding a surge in hospital cases.
Notably the rules do not mean that the loosening must stop if infections rise – as ministers believe they inevitably will when schools open.
Instead the focus will be on serious illness that increases pressure on the NHS, with the goal of keeping the R number below one apparently downgraded.
Mr Johnson dropped a strong hint that furlough could be extended beyond the end of April amid the slow relaxation, saying the government will keep doing ‘all it takes’ to prop up jobs and firms.