Coronavirus: We’re not out of danger yet – Warning not to break lockdown in sunny weather

Frustration and desperation to return to normal life are not good enough reasons to lift the coronavirus lockdown and the UK is not out of danger yet, the public has been warned.

As the country enjoyed sunny weather above 20C in many regions, the home secretary said data shows the number of journeys continues to rise but that people must respect the rules – and she insisted the government’s message is clear.

“We understand the frustration,” Priti Patel said, adding: “Staying at home and enforcing social distancing is absolutely vital.”

Speaking at the government’s daily coronavirus news conference, Ms Patel said “we all want to return to living our lives as soon as possible” but that five tests need to be met before lifting restrictions can be considered.

She said it would be “irresponsible” to offer a date when rules could be relaxed, saying: “The fact of the matter is, we want to prevent a second wave of this horrendous virus.”

Echoing the message, director of NHS England Stephen Powis said: “The sun is out around the country, the days are getting longer, and I’m sure it’s tempting for people to feel that they should go out.”

But he added: “I can’t emphasis enough that we are far from there yet…it won’t take much for this virus to start increasing its transmission again and spread more widely.”

He went on: “It would be foolish and not right if we lost the benefits that we have gained over the last four weeks, which I know have been hard for everybody, so it’s really important that despite the weather, we stay at home, we keep to the guidelines that we’ve been issued with.”

NHS England has reported another 711 COVID-19-related deaths, Wales a further 23 and Scotland 47 more. Northern Ireland has reported another 16 fatalities. The Department of Health says the overall number of deaths in hospitals has now reached 20,319.

The warm weather on the fifth weekend of lockdown has fuelled fears people will venture out and flout the rules, while there have been long queues outside B&Q stores this week, with safety measures in place.

This, coupled with data showing more people are on the move, has forced the government to deny mixed messaging.

One of the government’s own advisers has said that while there is a difference between people using transport and breaking the rules, the messaging “urgently needs to be dealt with”.

Susan Michie, professor of health psychology at University College London and a Whitehall adviser, told Sky News: “What we have seen this last week is many employers are opening up for business again and asking workers to come back to work and workers travel on transport.

“We must realise some people are responding to what they are being asked to do, they are not flouting the rules.

“I think it’s very, very difficult when we are getting mixed messages from the government.

“On the one hand stay at home, on the other hand go into non-essential work.”

Ms Patel said the government message “has been clear and consistent from day one”.

“There are no mixed messages,” she insisted, adding that people must follow the rules or face law enforcement.

To ensure continued adherence to the rules, Prof Michie stressed the need to provide people not just with clear messaging, but also with financial security and psychological support.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that people could be allowed to meet up with 10 of their closest family or friends under a future easing of the lockdown – similar to an idea already being discussed in Belgium.

It has also emerged that talks have been taking place between ministers and the Premier League on re-starting the football season once the government decides the conditions for relaxing the restrictions have been met.

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Pressure has been growing on the government to spell out how it plans to start lifting the lockdown and re-energise the devastated economy.

Adding his voice to the mounting chorus, former chancellor Philip Hammond said the country cannot afford to wait until a vaccine becomes available.

With Boris Johnson expected to return to Downing Street next week after recovering from the virus, Mr Hammond said he hoped it would mark a “clear step change” in the government’s response to the crisis.

He told the BBC: “We can’t wait until a vaccine is developed, produced in sufficient quantity and rolled out across the population. The economy won’t survive that long.

“But we are going to have to do it alongside the measures that are in place to protect the population from COVID.

“That’s going to be a much more complex phase of this crisis than the initial acute phase.”

(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: We’re not out of danger yet – Warning not to break lockdown in sunny weather