Flouting guidelines 'sharply' increases risk of second peak, Chris Whitty warns ahead of reopening of pubs
Video report by ITV News Political Correspondent Paul Brand
The risk of a second peak in coronavirus will go up "sharply" if people do not follow guidelines when pubs reopen this weekend, the chief medical officer has cautioned.
Echoing the prime minister's warnings, Chris Whitty said Covid-19 is going to be in the UK for a "very, very long time.”
As such, Boris Johnson warned local lockdowns will be a "feature of our lives for some time to come" as he urged people to act responsibly when the hospitality industry opens for the first time in three months.
He said the UK must "move away from blanket national measures to targeted local measures".
"Instead of locking down the whole country, we will lock down specific premises, or local areas where the virus is spreading.”
He urged pub-goers to be sensible when the hospitality sector reopens this weekend and warned the industry could easily face a second shutdown if people's behaviour leads to a second peak in the prevalence of coronavirus.
He said the government has “all sorts of measures in reserve” in the event of a second wave in Covid-19 infections, but said another national lockdown would be “the response of last resort”.
The prime minister encouraged people take advantage of the added freedoms this weekend by attending "local restaurants, hairdressers, libraries, museums, cinemas, and yes, pubs" in order to support business.
But he said the "success of these businesses" depends on "every single one of us acting responsibly".
He said ministers would next week be setting out timetables for the return of other sectors of the economy, including indoor gyms, nail bars and swimming pools.
But he warned "the virus is still with us" and "we are not out of the woods yet"."If it starts running out of control again the government will not hesitate in putting on the brakes and re-imposing restrictions," he said.
Mr Johnson said the government had learned lessons from local lockdowns already implemented in areas such as Weston-Super-Mare and Kirklees in order to develop an approach for controlling future local outbreaks.
He said there were five principle components: "monitoring, engagement, testing, targeted restrictions and finally, as a last resort, lockdown".
He pointed to the "heroic effort" firms have made to "prepare their venues" for covid-secure trading and asked people to "not let them down".
"We must not let them down," he said, "ultimately the economic health of the whole country is dependent on every single one of us acting responsibly."
"Just as when we first locked down, we will only succeed in reopening if everyone works together."