U.K. Won’t Have Key Tool in Place to Lift Lockdown Until Mid-May

Robert Hutton

29 Apr 2020, 07:42 PM IST

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. government is around three weeks from releasing the tool it says is essential to easing the current coronavirus lockdown, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, in a sign current restrictions are likely to largely continue until at least the second half of May.

The government has said it sees a “test, track and trace” system as the way to ensure that Covid-19 infections don’t take off again as the lockdown is eased. That requires the recruitment of 18,000 “contact tracers” to identify people who might have been exposed to the virus, as well as the release of a mobile phone app that will do part of that job automatically.

“We hope to have the contact tracers in place before or at the same time as the app goes live,” Hancock told the daily virus news conference Tuesday. “We’re expecting that to be ready by the middle of May. They’ll help us to keep new cases down.”

Boris Johnson’s government is under pressure from business and his own Conservative Party’s members of Parliament to begin unfreezing the U.K. economy. They warn of permanent damage if he waits too long. But he said Monday he fears an “economic disaster” if the virus takes off again after people start mixing.

France said Tuesday it would start lifting restrictions in early May, and Spain set out an eight-week program to move to a “new normal.”

The U.K. government has announced unprecedented measures to support businesses and pay workers to stay at home with the goal of allowing the economy to restart with as little damage as possible, but it’s not always enough. On Tuesday evening, IAG SA said it would slash the work force at its flagship British Airways by almost 30% -- 12,000 jobs.

Hancock said the tools for a return to normal life were the app, the contact tracers, and sufficient testing capacity. He said the U.K. was “on course” to hit his target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of April. On March 12, a lack of capacity meant that the government abandoned attempts to test for the disease in the community, making it hard to see how widespread it is.

Any moves away from lockdown are likely to be gradual, and ministers have been clear that businesses that encourage socializing -- pubs, cafes and restaurants -- would be likely to be last out.

Government modeling documents published in March assumed lockdown measures would likely be in place for eight to 13 weeks. The U.K. is currently five weeks in, and the full 13 weeks would take it to late June.

Clarified Advice

But there are signs that government ministers fear too many people have stayed home in the current lockdown. Hancock announced Tuesday that anyone with a family member whose job required them to leave the house would now qualify for virus testing if they developed symptoms.

That was a reminder that the government does expect people who aren’t “key workers” to keep going to work if they can. Allowing them to access tests may help with that. Earlier, the government clarified its advice to say “non-essential” stores such as garden centers can open if they operate “click-and-collect” services.

In other developments Tuesday:
A further 586 people were reported to have died from the virus in U.K. hospitals, up from 360 deaths reported Monday. The total number of deaths in hospitals now stands at 21,678, but Angela McLean, the deputy chief scientific adviser, said hospital admissions and deaths are falling, especially in London. The U.K. now has more confirmed cases than Germany, and the fifth-highest number of confirmed cases in the world. Deaths in care homes were revealed to have surged earlier in April. Hancock said the government would start including non-hospital virus-related deaths in its daily tally, something that is likely to make the U.K. figures look significantly worse. One of the six different virus treatments being tested by the U.K. is entering an early clinical trial. McLean said there is “weak evidence” to support wearing face masks in public after Scotland’s government advised people to use them when visiting shops or on public transport

In other developments Tuesday:

A further 586 people were reported to have died from the virus in U.K. hospitals, up from 360 deaths reported Monday.
The total number of deaths in hospitals now stands at 21,678, but Angela McLean, the deputy chief scientific adviser, said hospital admissions and deaths are falling, especially in London.
The U.K. now has more confirmed cases than Germany, and the fifth-highest number of confirmed cases in the world.
Deaths in care homes were revealed to have surged earlier in April.
Hancock said the government would start including non-hospital virus-related deaths in its daily tally, something that is likely to make the U.K. figures look significantly worse.
One of the six different virus treatments being tested by the U.K. is entering an early clinical trial.
McLean said there is “weak evidence” to support wearing face masks in public after Scotland’s government advised people to use them when visiting shops or on public transport