Boris Johnson says lockdown must go on - but we’re ‘beginning to turn the tide’

Boris Johnson today faced down his own MPs and a restless public by insisting the UK's coronavirus lockdown must go on.

The Prime Minister said the nation is starting to "wrestle" the "invisible mugger" that is Covid-19 "to the floor" - adding: "We are beginning to turn the tide".

But he shot down claims he would spell out an exit plan as early as this week - saying now is the time of "maximum risk".

Mr Johnson said social distancing must go on, otherwise the nation would risk "not only a new wave of death and disease, but also an economic disaster".

That, he said, would force the UK to "slam on the brakes" with a nationwide second lockdown.

He added: "I refuse to throw away all the effort and the sacrifice of the British people and risk a second major outbreak and huge loss of life and the overwhelming of the NHS."

Today's surprise statement was his first public appearance outside 10 Downing Street for almost a month - and his first public appearance of any kind for around two weeks.

Scroll down to read the PM's statement in full

The Prime Minister said the nation is starting to "wrestle" the "invisible mugger" that is Covid-19 "to the floor" - adding: "We are beginning to turn the tide" (AFP via Getty Images)

Mr Johnson claimed the UK has managed to have "apparent success" despite more than 20,000 deaths in hospital - and many more in care homes and other places around the country.

The death toll is one of the highest of any country in the world.

But "we are coming now to the end of the first phase of this conflict," Mr Johnson claimed - thanks to the "forbearance, good sense, altruism, and spirit of community" of the British people.

He said the UK was "making progress" with "real signs now that we are passing through the peak", and did not run out of ventilators or intensive care beds.

In his first No10 statement he said easing up now would risk "a new wave of death" (REUTERS)

He added: "Thanks to our collective national resolve, we are on the brink of achieving that first clear mission - to prevent our NHS from being overwhelmed in a way that tragically we have seen elsewhere.

"And that is how and why we are now beginning to turn the tide."

Yet Mr Johnson resisted mounting calls from his own party and the business world to relax some elements of the UK lockdown.

The law says he must formally review the lockdown by May 7, next Thursday, with some reports today suggesting he could move sooner.

Mr Johnson indicated there will be some kind of announcement this week, saying: "The government will be saying much more about this in the coming days."

But officials have made clear the lockdown will not simply end - when it is eased, it will only be relaxed in some ways and not others.

And today Mr Johnson said it can only be eased "when we’re sure this first phase is over" and the UK is meeting its five tests for easing the lockdown. They are:

• The NHS is able to cope
• A sustained fall in deaths
• New infections dropping enough
• Adequate testing and PPE
• No risk of a second peak

He told firms "I understand your impatience, I share your anxiety" - adding without the private sector “there will be no economy to speak of" and no funding for the NHS.

But he added: "If this virus were a physical assailant, an unexpected and invisible mugger, which I can tell you from personal experience it is, then this is the moment when we have begun together to wrestle it to the floor.

"And so it follows that this is the moment of opportunity. This is the moment when we can press home our advantage.

Mr Johnson hinted there may be some kind of announcement, saying: "The government will be saying much more about this in the coming days" (AFP via Getty Images)

But he said now is "the moment of maximum risk" (PA)

"It is also the moment of maximum risk because I know there will be many people looking now at our apparent success and beginning to wonder whether now is the time to go easy on those social distancing measures."

The Prime Minister gave his eight-and-a-half-minute unscheduled message after he arrived back in Downing Street last night - three weeks after he entered St Thomas' Hospital in London.

Mr Johnson spent three days in intensive care after his cough and fever lasted for more than a week and took a turn for the worse. 

Mr Johnson spent three days in intensive care (AFP via Getty Images)

No10 said he did not need to go on a ventilator - but he was confined to his bed for several days at St Thomas' Hospital in London.

He later thanked NHS staff for saving his life and travelled to recover at his grace and favour country home Chequers, alongside fiancee Carrie Symonds.

Mr Johnson said: "I’m sorry I’ve been away from my desk for much longer than I would have liked.

"I want to thank you the people of this country for the sheer grit and guts you’ve shown and are continuing to show.

He thanked NHS staff for saving his life (REUTERS)

"Every day I know this virus brings new sadness and mourning to households across the land.

"It is still true that this is the biggest single challenge this country has faced since the war and I no way minimise the continuing problems we face."

Mr Johnson promised "transparency" and to "bring in opposition parties as far as we possibly can" - but did not say how.

Health Minister Edward Argar said Boris Johnson is "back to full health and back at the helm today", chairing the daily 9.15am Covid-19 meeting of ministers.

Mr Johnson chaired the 9.15am meeting of ministers for the first time in more than three weeks (PA)

The Health Minister added to Sky News: "He will be back in the driving seat as we speak, getting on with the job. He is raring to be back and he is full of energy."

But the PM has returned to a political storm over his government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He faces a Cabinet split over the timetable for when and how to ease the coronavirus lockdown.

Other European countries are moving to ease up and even Scotland and Wales are laying out an exit plan, but the UK has remained tight-lipped.

There is also pressure to ease up on the lockdown from Tory backbenchers - whose rep Sir Graham Brady branded restrictions "illogical".

Allies of the PM told the Daily Telegraph some restrictions may even be eased as early as this week - ahead of a legal deadline to review them of May 7.

But junior Health Minister Edward Argar today doused down that claim and said "we're not out of the woods yet".

With 413 new deaths being announced yesterday alone, Mr Argar said it is "too early to speculate" on lifting the lockdown and "now is not the time to ease up".

Boris Johnson's statement in full

I am sorry I have been away from my desk for much longer than I would have liked

and I want to thank everybody who has stepped up

in particular the First Secretary of State Dominic Raab

who has done a terrific job

but once again I want to thank you

the people of this country

for the sheer grit and guts

you have shown and are continuing to show

every day I know that this virus brings new sadness and mourning to households across the land

 and it is still true that this is the biggest single challenge this country has faced since the war

and I in no way minimise the continuing problems we face

and yet it is also true that we are making progress

with fewer hospital admissions

fewer covid patients in ICU

and real signs now that we are passing through the peak

and thanks to your forbearance, your good sense, your altruism, your spirit of community

thanks to our collective national resolve

we are on the brink of achieving that first clear mission

to prevent our national health service from being overwhelmed

in a way that tragically we have seen elsewhere

and that is how and why we are now beginning to turn the tide

If this virus were a physical assailant

an unexpected and invisible mugger

which I can tell you from personal experience it is

then this is the moment when we have begun together to wrestle it to the floor

and so it follows that this is the moment of opportunity

this is the moment when we can press home our advantage

it is also the moment of maximum risk

because I know that there will be many people looking now at our apparent success

and beginning to wonder whether now is the time to go easy on those social distancing measures

and I know how hard and how stressful it has been to give up

even temporarily

those ancient and basic freedoms

not seeing friends, not seeing loved ones

working from home, managing the kids

worrying about your job and your firm

so let me say directly also to British business

to the shopkeepers, to the entrepreneurs, to the hospitality sector

to everyone on whom our economy depends

I understand your impatience

I share your anxiety

And I know that without our private sector

without the drive and commitment of the wealth creators of this country

there will be no economy to speak of

there will be no cash to pay for our public services

no way of funding our NHS

and yes I can see the long term consequences of lock down as clearly as anyone

and so yes I entirely share your urgency

it’s the government’s urgency

and yet we must also recognise the risk of a second spike

the risk of losing control of that virus

and letting the reproduction rate go back over one

because that would mean not only a new wave of death and disease but also an economic disaster

and we would be forced once again to slam on the brakes across the whole country

and the whole economy

and reimpose restrictions in such a way as to do more and lasting damage

and so I know it is tough

and I want to get this economy moving as fast as I can

but I refuse to throw away all the effort and the sacrifice of the British people

and to risk a second major outbreak and huge loss of life and the overwhelming of the NHS

and I ask you to contain your impatience because I believe we are coming now to the end of the first phase of this conflict

and in spite of all the suffering we have so nearly succeeded

we defied so many predictions

 we did not run out of ventilators or ICU beds

 we did not allow our NHS to collapse

and on the contrary we have so far collectively shielded our NHS so that our incredible doctors and  nurses and healthcare staff have been able to shield all of us

from an outbreak that would have been far worse

and we collectively flattened the peak

  and so when we are sure that this first phase is over

and that we are meeting our five tests

  deaths falling

 NHS protected

  rate of infection down

  really sorting out the challenges of testing and PPE

avoiding a second peak

then that will be the time to move on to the second phase

in which we continue to suppress the disease

and keep the reproduction rate, the r rate, down,

but begin gradually to refine the economic and social restrictions

 and one by one to fire up the engines of this vast UK economy

 and in that process difficult judgments will be made

and we simply cannot spell out now how fast or slow or even when those changes will be made

though clearly the government will be saying much more about this in the coming days

 and I want to serve notice now that these decisions will be taken with the maximum possible transparency

 and I want to share all our working and our thinking, my thinking, with you the British people

 and of course, we will be relying as ever on the science to inform us

as we have from the beginning

but we will also be reaching out to build the biggest possible consensus

across business, across industry, across all parts of our United Kingdom

across party lines

bringing in opposition parties as far as we possibly can

because I think that is no less than what the British people would expect

and I can tell you now that preparations are under way

and have been for weeks

to allow us to win phase two of this fight as I believe we are now on track to prevail in phase one

and so I say to you finally if you can keep going in the way that you have kept going so far

 if you can help protect our NHS

to save lives

and if we as a country can show the same spirit of optimism and energy shown by Captain Tom Moore

who turns 100 this week

 if we can show the same spirit of unity and determination as we have all shown in the past six weeks

 then I have absolutely no doubt that

we will beat it together

we will come through this all the faster

 and the United Kingdom

will emerge stronger than ever before