Boris Johnson tonight begged the public to behave when pubs open, warning he ‘will not hesitate’ to impose local lockdowns if coronavirus starts to surge again.
At a Downing Street press conference to mark restrictions easing in England from tomorrow, the PM struck a nervous tone as he insisted the ‘risks are obvious’ and the country is ‘not out of the woods yet’.
He insisted that while the government is taking the ‘biggest step yet’ towards normality and hopes to spell out a timetable for opening up more sectors next week, danger was still lurking just below the surface. Mr Johnson said he would be treating himself to a pint – but only one.
Meanwhile, chief medical officer Chris Whitty delivered a stark message that the virus was a ‘long way from gone’ and a second wave is a ‘real possibility’, while science head Patrick Vallance pointed out transmission is much more likely indoors.
The cautionary note came as police brace for chaos as bars get up and running for the first time since March tomorrow. Legally they will be allowed to open as early as 6am – although No10 stressed that standard licensing rules will still apply.
Meanwhile, new figures have suggested that the R rate might have crept upwards in some parts of the country, although the overall estimate remains between 0.7 and 0.9.
A survey of 15,000 pubs has found that 42 per cent will open tomorrow, a further 17 per cent are reopening later in July and the rest either don’t know or are waiting to the end of the summer at the earliest.
But critics have predicted ‘Stupid Saturday’ amid concerns people will let loose with heavy drinking and rowdy behaviour – while there could also be mayhem on the roads with 10million drivers set to take advantage of the wider rules easing.
But Mr Johnson said the key was for everyone to ‘enjoy summer safely’. ‘Lockdown only succeeded in controlling the virus because everyone worked together, and we will only succeed in reopening if everyone works together again,’ he said.
‘Because we are not out of the woods yet. The virus is still with us and the spike in Leicester has shown that. If it starts running out of control again this Government will not hesitate in putting on the brakes and re-imposing restrictions.
‘Anyone who flouts social distancing and COVID-Secure rules is not only putting us all at risk but letting down those businesses and workers who have done so much to prepare for this new normal.
‘So as we take this next step, our biggest step yet, on the road to recovery, I urge the British people to do so safely.’
In other developments today as England prepares to take another critical step in the crisis:
- The R rate – the average number of people each Covid-19 patient infects — is still between 0.7 and 0.9 as a whole for the UK. But SAGE believes it could be as high as 1.1 in London, and 1 in the Midlands, the North East and Yorkshire, the South East and the South West;
- The UK has recorded 137 more Covid-19 deaths, meaning the official toll of lab-confirmed victims has now topped 44,000. Official data also shows Britain’s daily number of fatalities have not fallen as quickly in July as they did last month;
- Hair salons are preparing to open at midnight and work until morning to meet the frenzied demand from Britons aching for a post-lockdown trim;
- Churches can also reopen for services including weddings of no more than 30 people – but 75,000 couples have already postponed walking down the aisle over the past three months;
- Transport Secretary Grant Shapps paved the way for summer holidays today by releasing a list of more than 60 quarantine-exempt countries – but fears have been raised that plans for mass screening for covid-19 at airports could cause ‘log jams’ in the terminals;
At a Downing Street press conference to mark lockdown easing in England tomorrow, Boris Johnson struck a nervous tone as he insisted the ‘risks are obvious’ and the country is ‘not out of the woods yet’
Northern Ireland has got a jump on England by opening pubs a day earlier. Pictured is the Dirty Onion in Belfast today
Screens are being put up on the Atlas Bar and cafe in Manchester as the new era of going out for drinking and food begins tomorrow
Sylvester Kowalczk pictured measuring 2m to put social distancing stickers on the floor at the Ship and Whale pub in Rotherhithe, south London
Beer is delivered this morning at The Cricketers in Chelmsford, Essex, as England’s tens of thousands of pubs and bars can start serving again
Chief medical officer Chris Whitty (right) delivered a stark message that the virus was a ‘long way from gone’ and a second wave is a ‘real possibility’, while science head Patrick Vallance (left) pointed out transmission is much more likely indoors
Mr Johnson said: ‘I do want people to feel that it’s safe to go and enjoy themselves and enjoy hospitality.
‘But it’s got to be done in a responsible way.’
The premier said the government had ‘all sorts of measures in reserve’ in the event of a flare-up in infections.
But he said the focus would be on local action, as has happened in Leicester, with a national lockdown ‘the response of last resort’.
In a grim assessment, Prof Whitty said a second wave would be a threat for a ‘very long time to come’.
‘This possibility will exist with us for a very long time so we have to prepare for that and that’s a lot of preparation going on so the best thing to do is to make that as unlikely as possible,’ he said.
He urged the public to stick to social distancing measures, saying: ‘If individuals, families and firms do not take them seriously the possibility of a second wave goes up sharply.’
Prof Whitty added that the coming of winter also poses a threat in terms of a second wave of Covid-19 cases.
‘Either side of the path that we are on there are risks,’ he said.
‘And we are going to have health problems, and economic problems, for sure.
‘So, what we are trying to do is walk this narrow path. There is no perfect time, there is no perfect, exact way of doing it.
‘What this is is an attempt to balance, as best we can, in a way that makes it possible for society to be as close as possible to normal, whilst living alongside this virus – which we will have to continue to do.
‘This virus is a long way from gone. But, it is not going to be gone for a very, very long time.’
Prof Whitty was asked about Jacob Rees-Mogg’s plans to take a yard of ale to his local pub in Somerset, and joked that he expected the Cabinet minister to use it as a prop rather than drinking it.
Sir Patrick also tried to pour cold water on excitement about life returning to normal.
‘The key is to make sure that the Covid-secure approach is across society, we all stick to it,’ he said.
‘It is particularly important as the measures are released now that we stick with the rules as Chris has described them and that should be enough to keep this under control.
‘But we will still see local outbreaks, there will be an increase in local outbreaks, there is no question about that, and we need to be able to map and monitor and deal with those and then we need to make sure that by keeping to the rules we reduce any upswing nationally and we try to make sure that as winter comes, which is the big risk, that we are prepared to be able to deal with it.’
The move to allow pubs to reopen from 6am tomorrow will disappoint some punters who had hoped for establishments to open from midnight tonight.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said today that the regulations ‘mostly come into force at 12.01am’ tomorrow.
They added: ‘The reopening of pubs and bars specifically comes into force at 6am. That would just be in the event anybody would attempt to try to open at midnight.’
A poll by ITVs Good Morning Britain (GMB) showed nearly 90 per cent of voters are dubbing tomorrow ‘Stupid Saturday’ instead of ‘Super Saturday’.
Social media users appear far from excited about pubs in England reopening, with many tweeting they will keep clear of boozers tomorrow.
While some want to stay away from the possible ‘carnage’, others are concerned about a potential rise in cases of Covid-19.
Mr Johnson said there was a need to proceed ‘carefully and cautiously’.
‘Tomorrow we come to step three of the plan that I set out on May 10, that everybody, I think, has understood, or huge numbers of people have understood and followed very carefully and very closely,’ he told LBC.
‘And it’s because people stuck to that plan that we’re now able to carefully and cautiously open up hospitality tomorrow. And my message is really for people to enjoy summer sensibly and make sure that it all works.’
The PM will use a Downing Street press conference today to warn that the Government could ‘put on the brakes’ and bring back severe restrictions if there is a surge in cases, as has been witnessed in Leicester.
The relaxation in England is set to be a key test of the progress made by imposing draconian restrictions on March 23 to halt the spread of Covid-19.
The PPE on show in Belfast today gives a glimpse of how pubs will look in England when they reopen tomorrow
Beer barrels arrive at the Windsor Castle pub in South Kensington, west London, ahead of pubs reopening tomorrow
A poll by ITV’s Good Morning Britain (GMB) shows that nearly 90 per cent of voters are choosing to dub ‘Super Saturday’ as ‘Stupid Saturday instead’
Social media users tweeted that they will be keeping clear of pubs in England tomorrow
‘We’ve put a lot of thought into this, he said. ‘We feel now is not the right time for is. We’d like to avoid that first wave of enthusiasm as people return to the pubs on what is typically the busiest drinking day of the week.
‘Our first concern is the health and safety of our staff and customers.
Official pleas for calm tomorrow are being echoed by the public, as social media users tweet about keeping clear of pubs in England on ‘Super Saturday’.
‘In a pandemic, pubs have a new licence, a licence to contaminate, a licence to kill,’ one social media user tweeted this morning.
Another post read: ‘Why is the reopening of pubs tomorrow being called Super Saturday? Carnage Saturday seems more appropriate.’
One person commented: ‘Is anyone actually going to the pub tomorrow or are they are all doing the same thing and ‘wait until it dies down’?’
‘#StayHomeSaturday #ProtectNHS,’ one tweet read. ‘StopTheSpread. Drink at home, don’t risk spreading Covid-19 please.’
Another said ‘if I see anyone going to the pubs on reopening I will unfriend u on sight’, while one added: ‘The list time this country had a super Saturday, we were celebrating incredible sports people winning gold medals. Now they are using the phrase to celebrate pubs reopening and people most probably getting drunk.
‘Change the phrase, because tomorrow is not going to be super.’
Pub landlord William Douglas told GMB today that he has chosen not to reopen Docks Beer in Grimsby amid concerns for health and safety.
Social media users tweeted that they will be keeping clear of pubs in England tomorrow
Tomorrow is expected to be a wash-out as pubs in England reopen after months of lockdown
‘We announced on social media a few days that we wouldn’t be reopening on July 4 and would be delaying reopening. We had hundreds of messages of support and no negative feedback, so we feel that decision is vindicated.
‘We are taking a ‘wait and see’ approach. It will be later in July and possibly even in August. We are mindful of that spike in Leicester.
‘We hear that Doncaster down the road, 53 miles down the road from us, is not far behind. This disease has not gone away.
‘We’re one of the busiest pubs in North East Lincolnshire and when we do reopen it is absolutely essential that we do so with all the correct processes in place and we can manage what can be up to 400 people in this building – which is a challenge.’
Today, Mr Johnson will paint the easing as a means of supporting the livelihoods of bosses and their employees but warn ‘we are not out of the woods yet’.
‘They are our local restaurants, hairdressers, libraries, museums, cinemas, and yes, pubs.
‘They are also hotels, B&Bs, indeed much of our tourism industry,’ he will say, according to an extract released to the media ahead of the speech.
‘All these businesses and their workers have put in a heroic effort to prepare their venues for this reopening, to work out a way to trade in a way that keeps their customers safe.
‘But the success of these businesses, the livelihoods of those who rely on them, and ultimately the economic health of the whole country is dependent on every single one of us acting responsibly.
‘We must not let them down. The virus is still with us and the spike in Leicester has shown that. If it starts running out of control again the Government will not hesitate in putting on the brakes and re-imposing restrictions.
‘Anyone who flouts social distancing and Covid-secure rules is not only putting us all at risk but letting down those businesses and workers who have done so much to prepare for this new normal.’
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Mr Johnson’s message was that people should not ‘overdo it’.
Asked if Mr Johnson would be visiting a pub or restaurant tomorrow, the spokesman said: ‘He’s talked about his enthusiasm for a haircut and pint previously but I don’t know exactly what he’s doing on Saturday yet.’
The spokesman added that it would be ‘plain for all to see next week what he’s been doing at the weekend’ if he gets his blonde mop trimmed over the weekend.
It comes after the Treasury was forced to delete a tweet from its official account on Wednesday evening urging people to ‘grab a drink and raise a glass, pubs are reopening their doors from 4 July’.
A Treasury source said: ‘We got it wrong on this and the tweet was quickly removed.’