To work from tomorrow, but maintain social distancing. Theres a lifting of restrictions for Outdoor Activity from wednesday, as those living in england are told they can spend Time Outdoors for leisure purposes but only with members of their own households. And there could be a phased reopening of schools in england starting with Primary School pupils beginning onijune at the earliest. Also today the call to stay at home is replaced with stay alert but leaders in scotland, wales and Northern Ireland say they wont be adopting it, and labour calls it confusing. What the country wanted tonight was clarity and consensus. And im afraid we got neither. This statement raises as many questions as it answers. And we see the prospect of england, scotland, and wales pulling in different directions. Two of the countries that had begun easing their restrictions germany and south korea have reported an increase in new infections. Good evening. Borisjohnson has set out what he described as the first sketch of a road map for reopening society in england. In a televised address, the Prime Minister thanked the public for putting up with the hardships of social distancing and said their efforts and sacrifice had helped stop the spread of the coronavirus, saving thousands of lives. He confirmed a new slogan stay alert but the leaders of the uks devolved nations have said they would not drop their current message to stay at home. Mrjohnson said he would not lift the lockdown this week, but he did announce some easing of the current measures. The uk government is actively encouraging people in england who cant work from home, to go back to work if they can, from tomorrow, but not to use public transport where possible. Thats step one of a 3 step plan. From wednesday in england, people will be allowed unlimited amounts of exercise, or to sit in the local park, or to drive to other destinations, but only with members of their own household. In step two, from onejune, there will be a phased reopening of Primary Schools in england, initially reception, year one and year six. Shops will also start to open. Its hoped that secondary School Pupils taking exams next year, will get some time with their teachers before the summer break. In step three, byjuly at the earliest, some parts of the Hospitality Industry will reopen, along with some public places, provided they are safe. And the Prime Minister said there would soon be some kind of quarantine, for everyone arriving into the uk by air, but theres no date on that yet. Here borisjohnson is speaking at downing street a short while ago. The first step is a change of emphasis that we hope that people will act on this week. We said that you should work from home if you can and only go to work if you must. We now need to stress that anyone who cant work from home for instance, those in construction or manufacturing should be actively encouraged to go to work. And we want it to be safe for you to get to work, so you should avoid public transport, if at all possible, because we must and will maintain social distancing and capacity will therefore be limited. So work from home if you can, but you should go to work if you cant work from home. And to ensure you are safe at work, we have been working to establish new guidance for employers to make workplaces covid i9 secure. And when you do go to work, if possible, do so by car or even better by walking or bicycle. But, just as with workplaces, public transport operators will also be following covid secure standards and from this wednesday, we want to encourage people to take more and even unlimited amounts of outdoor exercise. You can sit in the sun in your local park, you can drive to other destinations, you can even play sports, only with the members of your own household. In step two, at the earliest byi june, after half term, we believe we may be in a position to begin the phased reopening of shops and to get primary pupils back into schools. In stages, beginning with reception, year one and year six. And step three, at the earliest byjuly and are subject to all these conditions and further scientific advice, if and only if, the numbers support it, we will hope to reopen at least some of the Hospitality Industry and other public places, provided they are safe and enforce social distancing. We have been through the initial peak, but its coming down the mountain that is often more dangerous. We have a route and we have a plan, and everyone in government has the all consuming pressure and challenge to save lives, restore livelihoods and gradually restore the freedoms that we need. Boris johnson speaking a short while ago. Well, the Labour Party Leader sir keir starmer has been reacting to the Prime Ministers announcement, saying it raises more questions than it answers. What the country wanted tonight was clarity and consensus, and im afraid we have got neither. This statement raises as many questions as it answers, and we see the prospect of england, scotland and wales pulling in different directions. Its a big gap here for the government to make up. Look, i have always accepted there would be some conditions on this. I accept that, that you cant answer everything now, but the main strap message needs to be clear. Stay alert isnt clear. Most people have been saying, what does that mean . So there is a very basic issue here about communications. But we are rushing into tomorrow, asking people to go back to work. That is millions of people, tomorrow morning, back at work without a clear plan for safety, without clear guidance as to how to get there without using public transport. Vicki young is in westminster for us. Watching the speech, it wasnt immediately clear where a lot of these measures would apply. I understand downing street has been clarifying that . Government officials have been asking questions giving clarification. The point they made is he couldnt go into all that detail in a national broadcast, this will come out in a 50 page document tomorrow. I think they are aware there wouldve been lots of questions so they tried to answer a few of those. So there is a timeline, if you like. Immediately from wednesday in england, for example, some of these restrictions will be lifted in terms of exercise, for example. After exercise, things like golf, tennis, angling will be allowed if you are with people from your household. Also interestingly saying you can meet one other person in the park, for example, and sit down as long as you are two metres apartand down as long as you are two metres apart and have a chat. So those small relaxations, the kind of thing were looking at. And if you progress to things like school, the Prime Minister talked about phase opening of Primary Schools. The ist ofjune at the earliest, he said. Interesting theres no plan at the moment for secondary School Pupils to return before september, except those with important exams next year who they hope can get some time face to face with a teacher, but thatis face to face with a teacher, but that is much more about looking at the progress then actually teaching classes. So mps will get the chance to quiz the promise or on all this tomorrow. I think that is when you will get more details. We have got to the position where it will be different mainly in wednesday in england then it is wales, scotland and Northern Ireland. England then it is wales, scotland and Northern Irelandli england then it is wales, scotland and Northern Ireland. I spoke to the tuc a short time ago, the leader criticised the back to work provision without public transport. Is that something the government will have to address . That will be a problem and lots of places, like bigger cities. What the government are doing is theyve been speaking to businesses about making the workplace is safer, to make sure social distancing can happen, and i think we will get more detail about public transport. We have heard from the transport secretary previously about having a lot less capacity if people have to social distance. We heard today about Face Coverings, that they might well have to be worn on public transport. So i think these kinds of details will come tomorrow, but theres a lot of anxiety for people. They are being encouraged to go back to work if they cant work from home. They want to make sure it is safe to do so, andi to make sure it is safe to do so, and i think this is why the government has dropped that stay on message, because it will not apply in the same way that it did before. They are saying that some people will be leaving to go to work, others will be leaving more often for exercise, so the message is changing. One cabinet minister put it to me by saying it is about emphasis. They will prepare people for a gradual return to some kind of normality. So the stay at home message has to be slightly moved away, because people will have to start for thinking differently and they want people to prepare for that. Vicki young in westminster, thank you. With me now is our Health Correspondent catherine burns. Youve been speaking to an intensive ca re youve been speaking to an intensive care doctor . Yes, i wanted to know how this is going down on the ground. This consultant was just about to start their night shift. They said they think this is all slightly airy fairy, but at the same time they realise that they know the economies to get going. But this isnt specific enough and we need some clarity. It was interesting, they said that they feel over the last six weeks, theyve dodged a bullet because lockdown worked to some extent. And the Nightingale Hospital didnt have to be used. And that sort of thing. They said they got away better than they expected the last six weeks, and thats because other patients have stayed away. In the last week theyve seen an increase in people coming in with heart attacks and strokes. They stayed these people are presenting later than they would have, so they are more ill if they would have gotten there earlier. So they are concerned about bouncing up and possible second wave with the fact that all the people who stayed away the first time around are coming back. And of course the entire life of the country rests on this r rate. Explain to us the difference, if we have a r rate of 0. 9 and r rate of 1. 1, what is that . Let me give you a different one. The r rate is the rate at which infection is spreading. Before the lockdown, we looked at a r rate of three. We have brought it down. But these tiny differences make a really big difference. So lets say we had a r rate ofi. I. Difference. So lets say we had a r rate of 1. 1. Over 60 days, 1000 people who are infected now would go on to infect almost 25,000 people. Whereas if the r rate was just under half of that, 0. 5, the number of infections would be under 2500. So it really does make a massive difference. We heard about the r rate, and we will hear about it more and more. With will. Thank you, thank you very much, catherine. Joining me now to discuss the pros and cons of facemask use is dr ben killingley, an Infectious Disease physician at ucls whittington hospital. Thank you so much, doctor. What is your reaction to borisjohnsons speech and the measures you are saying about . I work at the University College hospital london, whittington was an old job of mine. Sorry about that. But i recognise that it just sorry about that. But i recognise that itjust exemplifies, demonstrates what a difficult balancing act we are going through at the moment, trying to get the economy back on track whilst at the same time trying to make sure that the virus is kept under control. And i think that the speech tonight exemplified those difficulties. Lets talk about masks. A simple question to you, when you go shopping normally, do you wear a face mask . I dont want to go shopping at the moment, but i do when im at work at the hospital. Can you explain to our viewers who might want to know exactly why that is . The evidence behind facemasks is by no means certain. Lots of studies have been done for people wearing masks, predominantly to protect themselves from getting infection and perhaps and perhaps homes or stopping others getting infection. But those studies were done not in the setting of a pandemic and not in the setting of a pandemic and not in the setting of this current virus. So although the evidence is not strong, it is not conclusive that it wouldnt have some effect for this particular scenario. And in this scenario we are in where we are looking to get ahead of the virus a nyway we looking to get ahead of the virus anyway we can, borisjohnson last week intimated that face mask coverings at least might be just a small part of the armoury to try and help. But it is interesting that the mayor of london has suggested Face Coverings for those on public transport, but Nicola Sturgeon has suggested the same. Are you essentially telling them they are wrong . They are not wrong, theres just not the Scientific Evidence behind that to say this is definitely the right thing to do. And it sort of comes into a little bit of a political decision there about, is this something we can say we can do . We need to make sure absolutely that we are not using facemasks that could be worn by Health Health care workers. They are the people who need the facemasks the people who need the facemasks the most. And then there needs to be some messaging that people adhere to the social distancing measures and the social distancing measures and the hand hygiene measures. Facemasks arent an easy route out of this. They might be potentially beneficial for people who are going to be meeting lots of other people. I wouldnt expect to need to wear one cycling to work or walking through the park. But if going into a shop oi the park. But if going into a shop ora the park. But if going into a shop or a bus driver who is going to be having lots of face to face contact with people, potentially they are the groups who might get more benefit from wearing a mask. With a need just one mask a day, or several . Certainly in the health ca re several . Certainly in the health care profession, we would wear a surgical mask for up to about four hours a day or until it gets uncomfortable. You dont want to be touching the mask, that is when you can self contaminate yourself. But in the public settings, it is recognised that obviously they might not have the resources to do that, so you would probably wear the same Face Covering from the day, but you would want to wash it depending on what material youre using. But you would want to wash it at least once a day, i would suggest. Doctor, who has only onejob a day, i would suggest. Doctor, who has only one job one day at a time, sorry for getting the hospital wrong, have a great day. No worries. Health Health Officials have warned that. Health Health Officials have warned that. That Health Health officials have warned that. That is a stark contrast to the claim by donald trump at the virus will go away without a vaccine. Eleanor murray, an assistant professor of epidemiology at boston universitys school of public health, has been tracking the spread in the us and joins me now from boston. Professor murray, talk to us about the spread . Yes, so i think that what we are seeing over the last month or so, as lockdown has been in place, a lot of areas in the country and around the world, cases are really starting to plateau. But what this means is that actually, as we are at the peak of this plateau, that means that there are more people around us that are infectious then there were back in february or early march. So this seems like quite a dangerous time to be opening lockdown, because the likelihood you will encounter someone who is infectious is much higher than it was at the beginning of march when we all entered into lockdown. Are you seeing different rates in different states . Because of course each state has the ability to decide their own policy, and there are 50 of them. Exactly, so we are seeing Different Things happening in each state just because of different states having their own policies about lockdown. So we refer to a probably as lockdown, but really it means wildly Different Things in different areas. Some places, theres a strict curfew and strict limitations on how many people can leave the house at one time and when. And other places, it is more of just when. And other places, it is more ofjust a general advisory, most businesses are closed but you can still go to the park or whatever as you feel. What lockdown means varies, when the outbreak started in each state and even city, depending on their history of travel patterns, theres not really one outbreak in theres not really one outbreak in the us, its 50 or more outbreak. Professor murray, is there a single state which has managed to flatten the curve more successfully than others . I think that the states which had the earliest outbreak definitely seem to be doing the best job in getting that curve flattened, because it does take time. So i think we are seeing things flatten off in washington or new york state. But these states also have a lot of cases, so they are the ones who will be needing to be the most cautious when opening up, because right now there are huge numbers of people with the infection in those areas. Are you able to track how the disease progressed in the first place, where those first cases came from like in new york and california, the states with huge amounts of International Com travel travel and contact . Amounts of International Com travel travel and contact . Some states Like Washington state, possibly california and new york, there have been efforts to figure out where the cases were introduced to those states. And this is something that can be done by virologists looking at the genetic sequences of the virus isolated from the early patients. So i think there are some suggestions on the west coast of the us, the introduction likely came from various asian countries, whereas on the east coast, the introduction came from europe or the uk. Professor, thank you very much. Lets return to Prime Ministers statement one of the Big Questions for the many parents schooling their children at home is when might schools reopen . With me now is our education correspondent elaine dunkley. The answer to that question is potentially in two stages . Yes, borisjohnson, particularly potentially in two stages . Yes, boris johnson, particularly from the 1st ofjune, children in year one and your sex 1st ofjune, children in year one and yoursex 1st ofjune, children in year one and your sex year six. There we re and your sex year six. There were always issues, this was always going to be a headache and how this would be managed. One of the big concerns as Primary School children, how do you get Primary School children, children who are 6 7 years of age to social distance . That will bea of age to social distance . That will be a massive problem within classrooms for teachers. And are we going to be able to have them back in School Safely . Will teachers be able to conduct lessons whilst making sure children are staying apart, washing their hands . This will be a problem in lessons, playtime, and the canteen. The unions have raised a number of issues, and what they say is they wa nt issues, and what they say is they want the government to come up with a National Plan to ensure the safety of pupils and teachers. They want protective equipment, they want a protocol for if a child is sick in class, what happens then . Because the whole classroom then have to isolate for 1h days . So most there isolate for 1h days . So most there isa isolate for 1h days . So most there is a real need to get children back to school, the big issue is obviously doing that safely. Elaine, thank you so much. Joining me now is conservative mp damian green who was former deputy Prime Minister under theresa may. We spoke in a lots of people after Boris Johnsons beach, and we spoke in a lots of people after borisjohnsons beach, and a lot of people have said stay alert is too vague. I dont think it is. People have said stay alert is too vague. Idont think it is. Ithink the people in the real world will recognise this means it is a very gradual, measured balance removal of the full lockdown conditions that weve been under. But we are having to ta ke weve been under. But we are having to take very careful steps. So there will be more people, as there has been since before, and what the government is asking them to do is to stay alert, to make sure that they maintain social distancing, they maintain social distancing, they keep the handwashing and all they keep the handwashing and all the basic hygiene that weve all learned over the past few months, and dont let their standards slip in anyway. So i think people will understand what the situation is. You say that, but if im in a border village between england and scotland, on the one side i have to keep that in the front of my mind to stay alert, but on the other side i have to keep at the front of my mind to stay at home. The science is the same on both houses. The science may be the same, but i think there is generally an underlying interesting point here that although obviously all four countries will move along the same path, as we ease this lockdown in stages, it is possible that, because of the incidence of the virus in different countries, that they may have to move at slightly different speeds. And indeed the point has been made by some of the medical people and scientists that what we are seeing in other countries where you have to have perhaps a re imposition of the lockdown locally, we may get to that stage in this country if we find there are vastly Different Things happening in rural areas then maybe in some individual urban areas. So it isa in some individual urban areas. So it is a more nuanced message, but i think that is what the world will have to be like over the next few months so that we can take this path back to normal in a safe way. You say that is what the world will have to be like, but three of the four nations of the uk have decided that they do not want that nuanced message. I think well see what happens. I have great faith in people that the vast majority of them will behave in a sensible way. And although i agree that the simplicity of the stay at home message has worked and has been obeyed very well by most people, it is important that we do need to get our economy back, our lives back on a track where we can see that we are going to be able to lead normal lives. To some extent, in as near future as a safe stop what youve encouraged people to go back to work. If a person doesnt have a car and their workplace as many, many miles away, how will they do so . They will have to use public transport, which would potentially put them at risk. I think 60 of put them at risk. I think 6096 of people travel to work by car in this country. So we shouldnt be london centric about this, it is most lester in london and other parts of the country. But one of the things that the premise are included in a 15 minute broadcast this evening but will come out in the coming days is a series of detailed guidance both covering per site literally at the point you made about public transport, but also the point about how the workplace you might be going to need to be made safe as well. So therell be a lot of detail coming out the next 2 3 days which will a nswer out the next 2 3 days which will answer a lot of the immediate questions that people have. But when i spoke to the tuc, they asked how could the promise or give a speech same people go back to work, then people wake up in the morning and think, how will i do so if the plans have not been made on public transport or other forms of transport or other forms of transport in order to get them there safely casilla as i say, they will be getting detailed statements from the business department. There were seven documents about a week ago that were, if you like the first cut in this advice, and since then there have been responses from the tuc from businesses as well. And that will be reflected in the detailed guidance that will be coming out over the next couple days of. Damien green, do hold on a second just to reiterate the latest figures in the uk. 31,855 people have died from coronavirus, we will continue to keep you updated. Lets carry on speaking to damien green now. We wa nt to speaking to damien green now. We want to talk about returning to work. What should workplaces look like . In the Prime Ministers beach, i was unable to follow if there were guidelines for how new safe workplace is would look like . think people will be further apart and they have in the past few years, though two metres distancing will be required, so a lot of people, in offices or factories and to some extent, we are talking more about Building Sites in manufacturing here, because it is possible for more Office Workers to work from home. So it will be those sorts of places and manufacturing sites which will need to maintain social distancing. But also, they will have hand sanitiser available, i assume there will be regular breaks for handwashing and so on. The basic hygiene that weve all come to learn and expect over the last couple months is able to be able be carried on in those workplaces. In another point in the Prime Ministers speech, all told, we are literally testing hundreds of thousands of people every day. That is the ambition, but since 30 april, the government has not met that 100,000 target a day. So talking about hundreds of thousands of the day when we are not even at the 100,000 a day is perhaps talk about several steps too far into the future . At the beginning of april, we are testing less than 10,000 a day. And we are now into 90,000 a day. It has fallen back into the 90,000 or so, but to some extent this is less important than the trajectory, which was clearly much higher. No one denies the trajectory is high, the target was 100,000 tests a day. And we are close to it, we are 90,000, i dont think anyone will get very exercised about that. But absolutely it has to get up higher. What we wa nt to it has to get up higher. What we want to see is more and more testing at the same time as the incidence of the virus is coming down, because then we will hit a better point, and one of the things the Prime Minister set out this evening was the five stages of this disease where at worst at one end, at stage five, we overwhelm the nhs. At the moment at stage four, we are coming down into stage four, we are coming down into stage three, and when we get to stage three, and when we get to stage iii, some of the other measures he talked about like reopening schools in june, measures he talked about like reopening schools injune, or possibly even injuly, allowing some hospitality places to open up. And we will need to get there to achieve that. There are new rules for people to digest, and it is notjust from that 15 minutes each. When stan downing street has been extending more about that. But weve also heard from Police Officers that vague rules are really hard to reinforce, and there are some suggestions tonight that the enforcement of these rules by the police will be very difficult because the police want clear guidelines, and theres a lot of the use of the words if you can, or if possible, rules that they find externally ha rd to possible, rules that they find externally hard to enforce. In an ideal world, people behave sensibly, is not a question of the police enforcing rules. And clearly people are behaving stupidly, and we know that if large groups of people are getting together and having parties, than the police need to step in. But my definition of sensibly might be very different from yours, even if we are both good natured and good hearted. My definition of sensible might be i can meet up with six people in a park locally, or my friends as long as we sit two metres apart. The rules might say that i cant do that, there is no single of sensible here. One of the root definition that weve got about being sensible is staying two metres apart. In the rules were quite clear that you can meet one other person outdoors as long as you keep the two metre distance. So that is perfectly clear, that is perfectly enforcea ble, clear, that is perfectly enforceable, it doesnt have to be enforced because as i say, most people will behave sensibly. Go to talk to you, thank you so much. Thank you. Lets get some business reaction to Prime Ministers statement. The cbi, who represent british businesses, welcomed getting the country back to work saying their members are keen to reopen. We know through our own surveys and talking to businesses that
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