Normal life will stay on hold until a virus vaccine becomes available in about 18 months, officials said last night (pictured, police car patrolling with a megaphone at Greenwich Park in London).
Normal life will stay on hold until a virus vaccine becomes available in about 18 months, officials said last night.
Advice to work from home and stay in for seven days if you have symptoms will probably still be in place next year.
Ministers want to lift the most restrictive parts of the lockdown, including school and shop closures, within weeks.
But senior Government sources say the only true ‘exit strategy’ is a vaccine or a cure. Until then, the UK will have to adjust to a ‘new normal’.
An official last night told The Telegraph that social distancing measures that have been placed upon Britons could be ‘indefinite’.
Official plans to encourage social distancing on a long term, voluntary basis, have also been discussed, as the government continues to hold talks on how long Britons can cope with the current measures. Some measures, such as remote working, could be left in place for longer.
Dominic Raab, standing in for the Prime Minister while he is sick, has said it is ‘too early’ to lift the full lockdown, which will be formally extended next Thursday for several weeks.
Scientists expect the restrictions to be phased out gradually. They say some will stay in place until there is a vaccine – which they expect to take 18 months – to prevent infection levels soaring again.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock last night admitted the economic impact of the lockdown will cause deaths.
In other developments:
- The number of UK deaths rose by a record 980 – worse than any daily death toll in Italy or Spain;
- Boris Johnson can now have ‘short walks’ as he continues to recover while playing Sudoku and watching films including Withnail And I;
- Police apologised after an officer scolded a family for allowing their children to play on their own lawn;
- Polling showed most Britons are heeding the call to stay at home;
- Heads called for pupils to return to school before the summer break amid fears they may be off until September;
- Government experts said social distancing measures that have been placed upon the UK could be ‘indefinite’;
- The total global death toll from coronavirus reached 100,000.
A police van is seen patrolling Hyde Park where people were sitting on the grass yesterday despite the coronavirus lockdown
Shoppers queue using social distancing outside an Asda supermarket in Gateshead, northeast England
It comes as the UK recorded another 980 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, bringing the national death toll to 8,958
Ministers want to strike a balance between controlling the epidemic and mitigating damage caused by the lockdown.
Rules which inflict the most harm, such as the closure of schools and small firms, will be relaxed first. But a source leading the Government’s response said other effective measures not as damaging to the economy will have to become ’embedded’.
This includes working from home and avoiding public transport if possible.
Mr Hancock said: ‘We take into account the entire impact on the health and wellbeing of everyone in the country. Not just on the highly visible impact on the deaths from coronavirus, but right across the board, including indirectly through the economic impact.’
A group of youngsters on bicycles are spoken to by police at the otherwise deserted Bracelet Bay car park near Swansea
Coronavirus vaccine could be ready by September with an 80% likelihood it will work, says Oxford University expert leading research team
ByKumail Jaffer For The Daily Mail
Sarah Gilbert said she was ’80 per cent confident’ her team’s development would work by autumn
A coronavirus vaccine could be ready by September, it was reported last night.
Sarah Gilbert, an Oxford University professor currently leading Britain’s most advanced search for a vaccine, said she was ’80 per cent confident’ her team’s development would work by autumn.
Last month she was hopeful it could be developed by the end of 2020, but has now confirmed the most optimistic scenario after human trials look set to begin in the next fortnight.
The government has previously indicated it would fund the manufacture of millions of vaccine doses that looked promising in advance, allowing immediate availability to the public once developed.
Despite previous warnings a vaccine could take 18 months to produce, Professor Gilbert said the most bullish scenario for a working product was September ‘if everything goes perfectly’.
She told the Times: ‘I think there’s a high chance that it will work based on other things that we have done with this type of vaccine.
‘It’s not just a hunch and as every week goes by we have more data to look at. I would go for 80 percent, that’s my personal view.’
Her team, one of dozens around the world working to find a vaccine, will look to trial it in a country with a high virus transmission rate in order to obtain results quickly.
Britain’s lockdown makes it harder to test a vaccine due to the virus being unable to spread, she explained.
The vaccinologist said: ‘Nobody can promise it’s going to work.’
Her team were already in talks with the government over production to avoid any delays, however, and avoid a second infection spike in autumn.
She said: ‘We don’t want to get to later this year and discover we have a highly effective vaccine and we haven’t got any vaccine to use.
‘We don’t think we need facilities built, there are facilities that can be switched over.’
Ministers have hinted that it may be worth spending tens of millions on a working vaccine to offset the economic cost of lockdown.
Mr Hancock has previously suggested Britons who have had the virus could be given immunity certificates but there is still no antibody test to identify them.
This is while senior officials also told The Telegraph that the economic downturn caused by the virus could create more premature deaths than the virus itself.
One source said: ‘We fully understand that if there is a significant downturn in terms of people’s incomes – that can have a read across to their health.’
As Britons look to return to a more normal way of living, restaurants and pubs are expected to be among the first non-essential services to open but could be made to restrict the number of patrons they let in at once.
And football clubs could be forced to maintain low attendances at matches.
It comes as the vast majority of British people are heeding the Government’s call to stay at home to beat coronavirus.
Nine in ten people have left their house no more than once a day, according to a major attitudes-monitoring project led by Imperial College London.
The global study suggested the UK was better than almost every other country at adhering to the tough measures.
Almost two-thirds – 62 per cent – of Britons said they had not been within six feet of anyone outside their household in the last week in an incredible feat of social distancing.
Across all 13 nations included in the study, only 46 per cent of people could say the same.
Only Spain and Italy – both of which are under very strict lockdown – performed better, with 65 per cent and 67 per cent of people seeing nobody in the last seven days.
Government adviser Professor Neil Ferguson, of Imperial College London, said the lifting of social distancing could be done by age – with the young let back to work first.
Officials have warned that a vaccine programme will not be available until summer next year at the earliest. It took five years to develop a vaccine for ebola.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam yesterday said there were some signs of improvement but the UK was still in ‘a dangerous phase’.
Professor Paul Cosford of Public Health England suggested one of the first ways to ease the lockdown could be letting schools open.
‘Children are at very low risk of getting complications,’ he said.
A Cabinet source said factions are likely to form among ministers.
He added: ‘It will not take long to work out who the hawks and the doves are.’
The Institute for Fiscal studies says hundreds of thousands of Britons could develop physical and mental health conditions due to the lockdown.
Nine in ten people have left their house no more than once a day, according to a major attitudes-monitoring project led by Imperial College London
Police look on as cyclists stop at a closed road at Surrey beauty spot Box Hill near Dorking during coronavirus lockdown
Britain records Europe’s highest single-day death toll: Number of victims jumps by 980 to 8,958 – surpassing Italy and Spain’s worst days – as 5,706 more patients test positive
By Stephen Matthews for MailOnline
Britain suffered another grim day in its coronavirus crisis yesterday as officials recorded another 980 deaths in the home nations, taking the UK’s spiralling victim count to 8,958.
A further 5,706 people have been diagnosed with the disease in the past 24 hours, meaning a total of 70,783 have now tested positive. Officials managed a record 19,116 tests, a marked increase in its daily effort from 10,713 yesterday.
A total of 980 deaths made yesterday the worst day on record for hospitals in any country in Europe, with the previous high 950 in Spain on April 3. France, however, is recording higher death tolls – up to 2,000 in a day – because it is routinely recording deaths that happen in care homes as well as hospitals, something most nations aren’t doing.
England recorded 866 new fatalities among infected patients in hospital, while another 114 were confirmed in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Government is pleading with British people to stay at home this bank holiday as the country looks set for summer weather. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said in yesterday’s coronavirus briefing that people must do their part to help NHS staff who are ‘battling day and night’ to save desperately ill people. ‘They need you to stay at home,’ he told the daily briefing in Downing Street.
Data presented by deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, in the press conference showed that hospitalisations and intensive care admissions in London, the centre of the UK’s outbreak, have fallen in the past day.
Professor Van-Tam said: ‘It’s impossible to say that we’ve peaked but I suggest to you that the curve is starting to bend and your hard work is beginning to pay off… but this is not over.’ He added: ‘We have to take the pain now to make the gain in a few weeks time.’
France is recording more deaths than any other country in Europe because it includes fatalities in care homes as well as hospitals, which most countries don’t do
Professor Van-Tam said: ‘We are at a point where we are at a high level and the numbers are varying day by day but they are at this high level.
‘We are in a dangerous phase still and I need to reinforce that again to you that this is not over.’
He continued: ‘If you look at people diagnosed with COVID-19 who are now occupying hospital beds in Great Britain you can see that again over the period of the slide from March 20 through to April 9, there has been a steady increase.
‘But possibly you can see that the curve is bending. It is impossible to say that we have peaked.
‘London has gone down in the last day but the North East and Yorkshire have gone up.
‘However, I suggest to you that the curve is beginning to bend and that your hard work is beginning to pay off.
Police and military boats will patrol south coast beaches and use megaphones to shout at covidiots over the Easter weekend
Police and military boats will patrol the south coast beaches this bank holiday weekend, with officers using megaphones to shout at covidiots who flout social distancing and lock-down rules.
It comes after lockdown rebels were yesterday ordered off the beach and out of parks by police with loudspeakers as hundreds continued to ignore social distancing rules to lie in the 77F sunshine.
The Met Office said London could see highs of 78.8F this weekend, while much of England and Wales is expected to record temperatures of 64.4F to 75.2F.
Met Office forecaster Greg Dewhurst said coastal areas such as Brighton and Margate could see highs of 64.4F. Northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland are likely to record temperatures of 59F to 64.4F, he said.
Paul Netherton, deputy chief constable of Devon and Cornwall said that the force was in conversation with the Ministry of Defence and that it would be deploying boats off the coast.
As many broke the rules at their local parks and beaches, others flocked to rural areas and were reprimanded by locals. In north Wales one man was seen removing road blocks in order to get to a beach so he could use his kayak.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock also urged people to stay at home over the Easter Weekend, after many people indulged in sunbathing and playing sports on beaches and parks up and down the country.
‘But again I say, this is just not over. It needs to continue.’
He said: ‘There may be some signs that the curve is beginning to bend but it is premature, absolutely, to say that we are at a peak and the push that we are making with social distancing just has to continue.’
Speaking about how the situation in the UK compares to other similar countries, Professor Van-Tam showed a graph suggesting Britain’s number of deaths was not rising as sharply as in Spain, the US, France or Italy.
He added: ‘The UK continues to be broadly in line with what is happening in other countries. It is still a dangerous situation. We have to keep taking measures to bring this under control.’
Scientists agree that it is still too soon to see the impact of the UK’s lockdown – imposed on March 23 – in daily statistics and especially the numbers of deaths, which are the slowest to be recorded.
University of Oxford’s Professor James Naismith said: ‘With an additional 980 deaths reported, today represents an extremely sad day for the country.
‘The volatility in the daily numbers due to the nature of the reporting makes confidently identifying a hopeful trend in the daily total of announced deaths very hard.
‘The daily total of deaths will be the last number to peak and the loss of life announced today will be of people who were infected before the tight lockdown.
‘There are now encouraging signs in the trends of hospital admissions that social distancing is working as expected… Our continuing social distancing has and will save thousands of lives.’
Government advisers said in last night’s briefing that the NHS ‘can cope’ with the current situation and intensive care units still have room.
Experts have insisted the curve is flattening, with the number of new cases and the number of patients being hospitalised having stabilised this week.
Scientists have also said the death toll will continue to rise for at least another two weeks because a lag in how fatalities are announced.
Deaths announced each day have not, for the most part, happened in the past 24 hours but are spread across the days and weeks that came before.
This makes it impossible to predict where the peak will be – or has already been – or to get a clear picture until around a week to 10 days after the date in question.
Britain won’t know for weeks whether lockdown can be eased, experts say
Britain won’t know for weeks whether lockdown can be eased, a top government adviser warned yesterday – as the Cabinet descended into wrangling over fears the curbs themselves could cause 150,000 deaths.
Epidemiologist Professor Neil Ferguson, whose bleak prediction sent the UK into lockdown, said ‘definitive’ proof of whether restrictions have worked will not be available for ‘several more weeks’.
But Professor Ferguson, who himself was struck down with tell-tale COVID-19 symptoms, hinted the public may be amplifying the hit to the economy by following ‘social distancing’ better than the government had hoped.
The message came amid a mounting backlash at ministers for stonewalling over their ‘exit strategy’ for getting out of the crisis threatening to destroy millions of jobs and businesses.
Experts say that mass testing is the only safe way to ease the restrictions because otherwise no-one knows what proportion of the public has been infected, and whether the killer infection could still be spreading.
However, claims have surfaced that Boris Johnson himself was becoming alarmed at the impact of the lockdown before he was struck down with the virus, as he had not expected Britons to fall into line so readily.
According to well-connected Spectator editor Fraser Nelson, the Cabinet is now split into three ‘factions’ – with one wanting tougher measures, another believing the ‘cure is already worse than the disease’, and a third element saying the government must wait for public opinion to shift before changing approach.
A tentative estimate circulating in Whitehall suggests a long-term lockdown could mean 150,000 ‘excess’ deaths from non-coronavirus causes. A Downing Street spokesman tried to play down the figure, but stopped short of denying it. ‘It is not a number that I have ever seen,’ the spokesman said.
Britain has so far managed to avoid the dark milestone of announcing 1,000 deaths in a single day, something that has only happened in the US.
France has also announced days with more than 1,000 victims but it takes into account fatalities outside of hospitals, such as in care homes, which many countries do not.
Of the 866 new deaths announced in England, only 117 were recorded as occurring yesterday. The rest were scattered across this week.
Nearly 60 of the victims – the youngest a 40-year-old – had no underlying conditions, NHS England revealed yesterday.
Scotland announced 48 more victims, taking its total COVID-19 death toll to 495. But it uses a different time cut-off to the Department of Health.
Northern Ireland also has the same issue, recording 10 more deaths – pushing its victim count up to 92.
For reference, the Department of Health said Scotland and Northern Ireland’s death tolls yesterday were 366 and 78, respectively.
Wales – whose figure has always matched the same tally collated by the DH – announced 29 more deaths. It now has 315 known victims.
It comes as experts say the UK’s lockdown could rumble on for months because officials have no idea how many people are truly infected with the coronavirus and none of the tools to end the outbreak.
Italy, widely considered to be about a fortnight ahead of the UK, is expected to prolong its shutdown until May 3 as it grapples to get COVID-19 under control.
Scientists say it won’t be safe for the UK to emerge from lockdown until labs are able to test people en masse, to use antibody tests to work out who is already immune, or a vaccine or treatment can be developed.
Public Health England has yet to find or create an antibody test it finds acceptable, the country is testing fewer than 15,000 people per day compared to more than 70,000 in Germany, and vaccines are months away.
Trying to move forward without being led by a mass testing regime would, in the words of the director-general of the World Health Organization, be like trying to ‘fight a fire blindfolded’.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock is accused of setting a poor example on social distancing
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has been accused of setting a poor example on social distancing after it was claimed he was surrounded by staff during video calls with NHS chiefs.
Mr Hancock is alleged to have had between ten and 20 Department of Health and Social Care officials in his Whitehall office during the calls which are taking place every day.
NHS leaders suggested the approach apparently taken by Mr Hancock was not in line with government advice for everyone to work at home if they possibly can.
They said it appeared as if Mr Hancock and his staff viewed social distancing rules as being ‘for other people’.
A senior NHS leader who has seen the meetings told the Health Service Journal that the approach was effectively ‘encouraging presenteeism’.
It also makes it ‘hard to send the right messages’ to the public about staying at home, they said.
The anonymous senior NHS source said: ‘It looks like the Health Secretary and his colleagues think “social distancing” is for other people and that coming into the office is necessary for senior leaders.’
The government’s official coronavirus guidance states that people should ‘work from home, where possible’ and that ‘your employer should support you to do this’.
Officials have diagnosed just 65,000 people with the coronavirus in the UK but believe up to 10 per cent of the population – 6.6million people – could have had the illness already.
Estimates vary wildly, with Imperial College experts suggesting 1.98million may have been infected already while Oxford experts say it could be as many as 33million.
It comes as it as a leading government adviser yesterday said Britain won’t know for weeks whether lockdown can be eased.
Epidemiologist Professor Neil Ferguson, whose bleak predictions sent the UK into lockdown, said ‘definitive’ proof of whether restrictions have worked will not be available for ‘several more weeks’.
But Professor Ferguson, who himself was struck down with tell-tale COVID-19 symptoms, hinted the public may be amplifying the hit to the economy by following ‘social distancing’ better than the government had hoped.
The message came amid a mounting backlash at ministers for stonewalling over their ‘exit strategy’ for getting out of the crisis threatening to destroy millions of jobs and businesses.
Experts say that mass testing is the only safe way to ease the restrictions because otherwise no-one knows what proportion of the public has been infected, and whether the killer infection could still be spreading.
However, claims have surfaced that Boris Johnson himself was becoming alarmed at the impact of the lockdown before he was struck down with the virus, as he had not expected Britons to fall into line so readily.
According to well-connected Spectator editor Fraser Nelson, the Cabinet is now split into three ‘factions’ – with one wanting tougher measures.
London: Queue at Asda Clapham junction snakes across and down the car park before entering a chicane of upturned shopping trollies
Newcastle: Early morning shoppers queue outside waiting for the Sainsbury’s supermarket to open in Heaton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
West London: People observe social distancing in an attempt to stop the spread of coronavirus by standing behind tape lines as they queue up to shop outside a branch of the Tesco supermarket chain
Carrie Symonds sent baby scans to Boris Johnson’s hospital bed while he watched Withnail and I and played Sudoku as No10 says PM is ‘back on his feet’
By James Gant and James Tapsfield for MailOnline
Carrie Symonds has sent Boris Johnson pregnancy scans of their unborn baby as he continues to recover from the coronavirus in hospital.
Ms Symonds, 32, also wrote to the Prime Minister as it was revealed he has been up and about on a ward in St Thomas’, central London.
Mr Johnson was taking ‘short walks’ in the latest major sign of improvement after he was discharged from intensive care last night.
He has been passing the time doing sudoku puzzles and watching films including Lord Of The Rings and Withnail And I, the 1987 comedy starring Richard E Grant and Paul McGann.
Carrie Symonds (pictured with her fiance in March) has also written to the Prime Minister as it was revealed he has been up and about on a ward in St Thomas’, central London
Mr Johnson has been passing the time doing sudoku puzzles and watching films including Lord Of The Rings and Withnail And I (pictured), the 1987 comedy starring Richard E Grant and Paul McGann
A source told the Sun: ‘It’s been a very, very worrying time for Carrie. She has been urging Boris to get well for their unborn child.’
Earlier, it emerged the PM had waved to show his ‘gratitude’ to NHS staff as he was moved out of intensive care. But No10 stressed Mr Johnson is only ‘beginning his recovery’ – playing down the idea of him working soon.
A Downing Street spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister has been able to do short walks, between periods of rest, as part of the care he is receiving to aid his recovery.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Stanley Johnson (pictured) said: ‘I think this is all pretty straight forward now, he must rest up’
‘He has spoken to his doctors and thanks the whole clinical team for the incredible care he has received. His thoughts are with those affected by this terrible disease.’
The premier’s father Stanley warned yesterday that he will need time to recover before ‘picking up the reins’ of government again.
Confirming that Mr Johnson was now on a general ward at St Thomas’ hospital in central London, his spokesman insisted there is no schedule for him to return to duties.
‘The PM is beginning his recovery. Decisions such as this will be on the advice of his medical team,’ the spokesman said.
‘The PM is enormously grateful for the care that he is receiving from NHS staff.
‘I am told that he was waving his thanks to all of the nurses and doctors that he saw as he was being moved from the intensive care unit back to the ward.
‘The hospital said that he was in extremely good spirits last night and I believe that definitely was the case.’
Asked whether Mr Johnson was waving because he could not speak, the spokesman added: ‘The PM has been known to like to thank people by making friendly gestures and I am sure it was the same in this case.’
Ministers have been speculating it could take weeks before Mr Johnson is back in action.
Stanley Johnson said ‘relief is the right word’ and admitted his son almost ‘took one for the team’.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Stanley said: ‘To use that American expression, he almost took one for the team. We have got to make sure we play the game properly now..
‘I think this is all pretty straight forward now, he must rest up, as I understand it…
‘I don’t think you can say he’s out of the woods now. He has to take time.
‘I don’t know the details but I cannot believe you can walk away from this and get straight back to Downing Street and pick up the reins without a period of readjustment. But that’s just me talking as a layman.’
The last time the Prime Minister was seen in person, and not on a Zoom call, was last week when he appeared on the doorstep of No.11 to clap for carers
Mr Johnson is believed to have called his pregnant fiancée Carrie Symonds immediately after being shifted. Ms Symonds has been isolating in the couple’s Camberwell property.
The premier went into self-isolation after testing positive for coronavirus two weeks ago, and was taken to hospital on Sunday after his symptoms failed to subside.
He was then dramatically moved to intensive care on Monday night after seeing a deterioration in his condition – with No10 forced to deny he had been on a ventilator or was suffering from pneumonia.
The announcement that Mr Johnson had been moved to a ward came just hours after Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who has been standing in for him while he was incapacitated, said he was making ‘positive steps forward’ in his treatment.
Last night a No 10 spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery.
‘He is in extremely good spirits.’
However, the likelihood of a long absence for Mr Johnson as he recuperates will fuel fears of a power vacuum at the heart of government.
Although Mr Raab is deputising, he does not have the full powers of a PM and there are claims that major decisions over lockdown are being delayed in the hopes Mr Johnson can be involved.
Carrie Symonds has sent Boris Johnson pregnancy scans of their unborn baby as he continues to recover from the coronavirus in hospital.
Ms Symonds, 32, also wrote to the Prime Minister as it was revealed he has been up and about on a ward in St Thomas’, central London.
Mr Johnson was taking ‘short walks’ in the latest major sign of improvement after he was discharged from intensive care last night.
He has been passing the time doing sudoku puzzles and watching films including Lord Of The Rings and Withnail And I, the 1987 comedy starring Richard E Grant and Paul McGann.
Carrie Symonds (pictured with her fiance in March) has also written to the Prime Minister as it was revealed he has been up and about on a ward in St Thomas’, central London
Mr Johnson has been passing the time doing sudoku puzzles and watching films including Lord Of The Rings and Withnail And I (pictured), the 1987 comedy starring Richard E Grant and Paul McGann
A source told the Sun: ‘It’s been a very, very worrying time for Carrie. She has been urging Boris to get well for their unborn child.’
Earlier, it emerged the PM had waved to show his ‘gratitude’ to NHS staff as he was moved out of intensive care. But No10 stressed Mr Johnson is only ‘beginning his recovery’ – playing down the idea of him working soon.
A Downing Street spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister has been able to do short walks, between periods of rest, as part of the care he is receiving to aid his recovery.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Stanley Johnson (pictured) said: ‘I think this is all pretty straight forward now, he must rest up’
‘He has spoken to his doctors and thanks the whole clinical team for the incredible care he has received. His thoughts are with those affected by this terrible disease.’
The premier’s father Stanley warned this morning that he will need time to recover before ‘picking up the reins’ of government again.
Confirming that Mr Johnson was now on a general ward at St Thomas’ hospital in central London, his spokesman insisted there is no schedule for him to return to duties.
‘The PM is beginning his recovery. Decisions such as this will be on the advice of his medical team,’ the spokesman said.
‘The PM is enormously grateful for the care that he is receiving from NHS staff.
‘I am told that he was waving his thanks to all of the nurses and doctors that he saw as he was being moved from the intensive care unit back to the ward.
‘The hospital said that he was in extremely good spirits last night and I believe that definitely was the case.’
Asked whether Mr Johnson was waving because he could not speak, the spokesman added: ‘The PM has been known to like to thank people by making friendly gestures and I am sure it was the same in this case.’
Ministers have been speculating it could take weeks before Mr Johnson is back in action.
Stanley Johnson said ‘relief is the right word’ and admitted his son almost ‘took one for the team’.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Stanley said: ‘To use that American expression, he almost took one for the team. We have got to make sure we play the game properly now..
‘I think this is all pretty straight forward now, he must rest up, as I understand it…
‘I don’t think you can say he’s out of the woods now. He has to take time.
‘I don’t know the details but I cannot believe you can walk away from this and get straight back to Downing Street and pick up the reins without a period of readjustment. But that’s just me talking as a layman.’
The last time the Prime Minister was seen in person, and not on a Zoom call, was last week when he appeared on the doorstep of No.11 to clap for carers
Mr Johnson is believed to have called his pregnant fiancée Carrie Symonds immediately after being shifted. Ms Symonds has been isolating in the couple’s Camberwell property.
The premier went into self-isolation after testing positive for coronavirus two weeks ago, and was taken to hospital on Sunday after his symptoms failed to subside.
He was then dramatically moved to intensive care on Monday night after seeing a deterioration in his condition – with No10 forced to deny he had been on a ventilator or was suffering from pneumonia.
The announcement that Mr Johnson had been moved to a ward came just hours after Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who has been standing in for him while he was incapacitated, said he was making ‘positive steps forward’ in his treatment.
Last night a No 10 spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery.
‘He is in extremely good spirits.’
However, the likelihood of a long absence for Mr Johnson as he recuperates will fuel fears of a power vacuum at the heart of government.
Although Mr Raab is deputising, he does not have the full powers of a PM and there are claims that major decisions over lockdown are being delayed in the hopes Mr Johnson can be involved.