Boris Johnson blames coronavirus surge on people becoming 'complacent about transmission'

Boris Johnson said people had become 'blase' about coronavirus transmission
UK PARLIAMENT/AFP via Getty Imag

Boris Johnson has blamed a recent rise in coronavirus cases on members of the public becoming "blasé about transmission".

Experts have warned the Covid-19 epidemic is still "growing exponentially" across the country.

New figures released on Friday by Sage show the estimate for R for the whole of the UK has risen to between 1.3 and 1.6 compared with last week when it was between 1.2 and 1.5.

The Prime Minister told BBC Scotland on Friday that people were not obeying social distancing rules as they previously have done.

"Alas, probably what happened since then is that everyone got a bit, kind of complacent and a bit blasé about transmission," said Mr Johnson.

"The rules on social distancing weren't perhaps obeyed in the way they could have been, or enforced in the way they could have been, and that's why we've had to put in measures both in Scotland and elsewhere to bring it down again."

He added: "I'm afraid some of the muscle memory has faded and people are not following the guidance in the way that they should."

In a separate interview with BBC North East, the Prime Minister denied that a lack of coronavirus testing was the cause of a rise in infections.

He said: "That's not the reality… the nation came together in March and April, what happened over the summer was a bit of sort of fraying of people's discipline and attention to those rules."

Mr Johnson also told reporters that concerns about his health following his recovery from Covid-19, was “sinister disinformation”.

Sir Humphry Wakefield had reportedly suggested Mr Johnson could be forced to step down because he was still struggling to recover from his bout of Covid-19, having been admitted to intensive care for his symptoms during the first wave of the illness in April.

But Mr Johnson told BBC South on Friday that he felt “considerably better” and that he was about two stone lighter than he was a year ago.

Earlier this week Mr Johnson had to apologise after getting muddled when trying to explain what the latest social restrictions were for people in the North East of England.

Asked on BBC Look North (Yorkshire) how the public could be expected to follow the rules when the Prime Minister did not understand all the variations, he said he thought “people do understand” the area-by-area restrictions.

He stressed that there was a “very tough balance to strike” when coming up with bespoke rules for individual regions.

In Liverpool, local leaders wanted the restrictions to go further than they did on Thursday while the independent Mayor of Middlesbrough, Andy Preston, said they were over zealous.

Mr Johnson said: “I think we have done everything in our power to control this virus. A lot of people are criticising the Government for applying too stringent a lockdown in places … a lot of people feel we could be doing more.

“It’s a very tough balance to strike and I can see why people feel frustrated.”

A man in a face mask walks past the Liver Building in Liverpool
PA

It comes as the Prime Minister set out funding for new NHS hospitals. He had previously told newspapers in September last year that he planned to build “40 new hospitals across England over the next decade”.

In an announcement on Friday, Mr Johnson confirmed funding for “40 new hospitals across England”, with a further eight schemes invited to bid for future funding.

In some cases, new hospitals will be built on new sites, the Department of Health said, but in other cases, a new hospital will be built on an existing site to replace existing facilities.

The Government said the package is worth £3.7 billion, with trusts that received seed funding now all fully funded to deliver 25 hospitals.

Mr Johnson said: “The dedication and tireless efforts of our nurses, doctors and all healthcare workers have kept the NHS open throughout this pandemic.

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“But no matter what this virus throws at us we are determined to build back better and deliver the biggest hospital building programme in a generation.

“From Morpeth to Milton Keynes, we are building 40 new hospitals across England to level up our NHS so more people have top-class healthcare services in their local area.”

Labour branded the announcement a “rehash” and said not enough attention had been paid to mental health services with the investment.

Shadow mental health minister Rosena Allin-Khan said: “This rehash of an old announcement is a missed opportunity and extremely disappointing.

“And it is an insult that mental health – which represents one-quarter of all health need – has again lost out.”

Dame Donna Kinnair, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, added: “Whether hospitals are rebuilt or wholly new, they will struggle to provide safe patient care without enough nurses.

“Unfair salaries are pushing nursing staff out of jobs they love when England’s NHS is already missing tens of thousands.”

NHS Providers deputy chief executive Saffron Cordery welcomed the announcement, but said there was an “absence of any meaningful investment in our crumbling mental health estate”.

Additional reporting by PA Media.

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