FOREIGN Secretary Dominic Raab led today’s Government coronavirus briefing and insisted throughout that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in good spirits and continuing to lead the country.
The Prime Minister was admitted to hospital for tests as a precaution, he said, admitting that he had not seen Mr Johnson since Saturday.
The Foreign Secretary spoke of the Government’s efforts to repatriate Britons stuck abroad, citing the 20,000 people that have already been brough t home from Spain, 13,000 from Egypt, 8,000 from Indonesia and 2,000 from other countries so far.
Prof Angela McLean, chief scientific adviser for the Ministry of Defence, said that the lockdown measures are working in slowing the spread of the coronavirus, and that admissions to hospital would have been worse had such restrictions not been introduced.
Repeatedly asked by reporters about the UK’s ’exit strategy’ from lockdown, both the chief medical officer for England Professor Chris Whitty and the Foreign Secretary said it was too early to begin to talk about this plan while the country had not yet reached the peak of infections. Businesses are concerned to know when the restrictions might be lifted and the Foreign Secretary gave an assurance that further support for small businesses in particular would be on the way.
Another point made by Prof Whitty with regard to lifting the lockdown was that antibody tests, which show whether a person has had coronavirus, were not yet at their optimal design.
In the UK today, 439 deaths from coronavirus have been reported and 3,802 cases.
In Cornwall 15 people have died after contracting the illness and there have been 198 confirmed cases.