One month after being tested positive for covid-19 and two weeks after being released from hospital, the 55-year-old Prime Minister spoke at 10 Downing Street. Faced with mounting pressure to outline a strategy for deconfinement, Boris Johnson said he understood the "impatience" of the population and promised decisions "in the coming days" on how to adapt the measures in the future. square. But he warned that it was necessary to stick to confinement as it stood.
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"We are now starting to turn the tide," said Boris Johnson, thanking his compatriots for their "common sense" and "community spirit". "I want to advance the economy as quickly as possible, but I refuse to spoil the efforts and sacrifices of the British people and risk a second major epidemic," added the Prime Minister. Containment has been in place since March 23 in the UK and must be maintained at least until May 7.
The divided government
The UK is at a "delicate and dangerous stage," Foreign Minister Dominic Raab, who replaced Boris Johnson during his absence, said on Sunday. The government is divided, according to the press, certain heavyweights worried about the consequences, social but also health, of a too strict confinement on the length. And the Prime Minister will have to decide.
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Boris Johnson was hospitalized for a week in London and has been recovering since April 12 in the Checkers government residence. During this period, his country was confronted with what scientists believe to be the peak of the pandemic and his government faced numerous criticisms. The Conservative leader spent three days in intensive care. A period of time during which things "could very well have changed," said Boris Johnson, saluting the staff of the British public health service, the NHS, to which he "owes his life".
Labor criticizes slow government
"Impatient" to meet with the Prime Minister in a process he wishes to constructive, the leader of the Labor opposition, Keir Starmer, sent him this weekend a letter in which he reiterates his criticisms. According to the new boss of Labor, "mistakes" were made and the government was "too slow", whether on confinement, screening or protective equipment which caregivers but also retirement homes are sorely lacking.
The British "have made great sacrifices for containment to work," he tweeted, "they deserve to be part of an adult discussion about the sequel."
The public have made great sacrifices to make lockdown work. They deserve to be part of an adult conversation about what comes next.
We are engaging constructively to protect our country and, to that end, I offer a series of considerations for the Prime Minister in my letter. pic.twitter.com/n8ubsUGT8M
With 20,732 deaths in hospitals alone, the United Kingdom is one of the most severely affected countries. The balance sheet looks even heavier with the deaths in retirement homes, which number in the thousands according to the players in the sector.
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During the Downing Street daily press conference on Sunday, Environment Minister George Eustice observed "encouraging signs". In sharp decline, the latest report released Sunday lists 413 additional deaths in hospitals, the lowest figure in almost a month.