UK 'must not ruin' coronavirus lockdown progress over Bank Holiday weekend as Boris Johnson ‘rests up’ after leaving intensive care

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Brits are urged not to “ruin” the UK’s advances in the fight against coronavirus by flouting lockdown restrictions this weekend, as temperatures are set to soar.

The Prime Minister is said to be in “extremely good spirits” and is continuing to be closely monitored at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London after spending three nights in ICU.

His father Stanley Johnson expressed his relief at the development on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday morning, adding that his son now needed to “rest up” while the nation “makes sure we play properly now.”

His comments came as ministers and health authorities pleaded with the public not to succumb to the temptations of a sunny Bank Holiday weekend, with the mercury expected to creep up to 26C in London on Saturday.

Reinforcing the instruction to stay in doors, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told Thursday’s Downing Street press conference: “We mustn’t give the coronavirus a second chance to kill more people and hurt our country.”

On Friday morning, scientific advisor Professor Neil Ferguson, of Imperial College London, told the Today programme that ending the coronavirus lockdown was the Government’s "number one topic and priority.”

He stressed that members of the medical and scientific community were working on it "every waking minute, as it were.”

Dr Paul Cosford, medical director for Public Health England, also called for people to stay at home over Easter because social distancing measures are working.

He told Good Morning Britain: “People are complying (with the measures) in a very large majority and the impact that is having is that transmission is much, much less than it would otherwise be.”

Dr Cosford added: “The most important thing now is we continue (to stay at home) so we can get through the peak and come down the other side.”

NHS England’s national medical director Stephen Powis also said the UK was starting to see the benefits of social distancing.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said: “I think it is really critical this weekend that we keep obeying those instructions. We are beginning to see the benefits of this social distancing. We do believe the virus is spreading less.

“That will only continue to happen if we don’t get complacent and continue to follow those instructions.”

Yesterday, Mr Raab, deputising for the PM in his absence, said it was still too soon for ministers to begin lifting the strict social distancing rules introduced last month.

“After all the sacrifices so many people have made, let’s not ruin it now,” he told the televised coronavirus briefing.

Elsewhere, police warned they were ready to take action against anyone breaching official restrictions.

Downing Street offered the Government’s “full backing” to police forces seeking to enforce social distancing rules over the holiday period.

But there was a rebuke for Northamptonshire Chief Constable Nick Adderley after he suggested his force could mount road blocks and search shopping trolleys to check if people were going out to buy non-essential items.

Home Secretary Priti Patel told talkRADIO: “That is not appropriate, let me be clear on that. That is not the guidance.”

The warning came as the UK's Covid-19 death toll among hospitalised patients rose to 7,978 – an increase of 881 on the previous day.

Mr Raab acknowledged that it was hard for people hoping to go out and be with their families over Easter, but he urged them to show restraint amid signs the measures were having an impact.

“Unfortunately right now we just can’t do those sorts of things and I am really sorry about that,” he said.

“It’s been almost three weeks and we’re starting to see the impact of the sacrifices we’ve all made.

“But the deaths are still rising and we haven’t yet reached the peak of the virus. So it’s still too early to lift the measures that we put in place.

“We must stick to the plan and we must continue to be guided by the science.”

Mr Raab was speaking after chairing a meeting of the Government’s Cobra civil contingencies committee to consider how it would proceed with the three-week review, due next week, of the lockdown rules.

He said the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) would be looking at the evidence but it would not be possible to say any more until the end of next week.

Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures

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Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s chief scientific adviser, said measures were “breaking transmission” of the disease with signs of a “flattening off” in the numbers of new cases and hospital admissions.

However, he warned the numbers of deaths would continue to rise for a “few weeks” and that it was too soon to relax social distancing.

It is incredibly important that we continue to do what we are doing,” he said.

The chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said that while the numbers admitted to intensive care had been doubling every three days, that had now slowed.

“This is really now becoming not quite flat, but the doubling time is now six or more days in almost everywhere in the country and extending in time,” he said.

Also on Thursday, the hospital where the Prime Minister is being treated for Covid-19 was illuminated with blue flashing lights as people across the country joined the weekly round of national applause for NHS workers.

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Meanwhile, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick defended visiting his elderly parents during the coronavirus lockdown, saying he was delivering items including medicines.

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