LONDON — The U.K. “can turn the tide” in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak within the next three months if the public follows the governments advice, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Thursday.
In his fourth daily press conference this week, Johnson said after that period scientific efforts will start to bear fruit. Randomized tests for vaccines will start in April, he said.
The death toll in the U.K. has risen to 137, up by 33 since Wednesday.
“I think, looking at it all, that we can turn the tide within the next 12 weeks and Im absolutely confident that we can send coronavirus packing in this country,” Johnson said.
“But only if we all take the steps that weve outlined, that is vital, thats how were going to reduce the peak and once weve achieved that and I think that we will, if we take the steps Ive said, then the scientific progress that weve been making will really start coming into play.”
The government is in negotiations to buy antibody tests that could potentially tell whether individuals have already had the disease. If they work, the government would buy “hundreds of thousands” of them, since they have the potential of being “a game changer,” Johnson said.
Although compliance with the governments social distancing advice in London has been “patchy,” Johnson ruled out a complete shut-down of Londons public transport system. However, other measures to prevent large gatherings of people might be announced in the coming days, he said.
“What I want us to do is to get on top of it,” Johnson said. “At the moment the disease is proceeding in a way that does not seem yet to be responding to our interventions. I believe that a combination of the measures were asking the public to take and better testing, scientific progress will enable us to get on top of it within the next 12 weeks and turn the tide.
“I cannot stand here and tell you that by the end of June we will be on the downward slope. Its possible but I simply cant say that for certain. Of course not, we dont know where we are, we dont know how long this thing will go on for but what I can say is that this is going to be finite, we will turn the tide and I can see how to do it within the neRead More – Source
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