Boris Johnson announces 5pm Covid press conference: What the PM is set to announce

Boris Johnson will host a coronavirus press conference from Downing Street at 5pm on Friday.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said he will be joined by England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty.

It is expected the Prime Minister will urge caution over the Indian variant of Covid and stress the public must help suppress the Covid-19 infection rate.

The vaccines minister

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a news conference (Photo by Toby Melville - WPA Pool / Getty Images)Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a news conference (Photo by Toby Melville - WPA Pool / Getty Images)
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a news conference (Photo by Toby Melville - WPA Pool / Getty Images)
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Nadhim Zahawi urged people in the 15 areas of England with spread of the Indian variant of concern to follow local health advice, get tested and isolate if they test positive.

London and the North West have seen the biggest rise in cases, with Public Health England (PHE) data showing the Indian variant has been responsible for four deaths as of May 12.

Asked if the June 21 road map easing – when all legal limits on social contact are due to be lifted – could be put on ice, Mr Zahawi told LBC’s Nick Ferrari that this Monday’s reopening of indoor meet-ups “is still on”.

When pressed on whether the plans for June 21 could be paused, he said: “The way we don’t have to do that is by everybody doing their bit, by taking the two tests a week, doing your PCR test in those areas, and to isolate, isolate, isolate.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We have got to break the cycle of infection, because one of those big tests was infection rates have to be suppressed, and the other big test is variants.

“If those cause a problem, then the tests will fail. The four tests have to be met for June 21.”

Mr Zahawi said the seven-day rolling average figures for infection show a 12.4% rise, but hospital admissions are down by 7.9%.

“That is good news because it tells you that the vaccines are clearly working in terms of hospitalisation and severe infections… but the infection rate is what is concerning, which is why we have to surge test and then isolate,” he said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Government is looking at ways to “flex” the rollout of vaccines in the worst hit areas such as the North West, including vaccinating everyone in multi-generational households from 18-year-olds to grandparents, Mr Zahawi said.

More vaccine doses have been sent to Bolton, which has a particularly high rate of the Indian variant, while 800,000 PCR tests have been sent to 15 separate areas of the England, including parts of London and Merseyside.

One option also being considered by clinical advisers to the Government, who are meeting on Friday, is to bring forward the date for second doses of vaccine for the elderly and vulnerable in regions where the Indian variant is spreading.

Asked on BBC Breakfast what is stopping vaccines being given to younger age groups in affected areas now, Mr Zahawi said it takes three weeks to build protection from a first dose and to have any effect on transmission of the virus.

The Government is expected to make further decisions regarding the vaccine programme once clinical advisers have looked at the evidence and made recommendations.