2020-04-06_Daily_Express

6 Daily Express Monday, April 6, 2020

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By Martyn Brown

Senior Political Correspondent

CORONAVIRUS:

THE Health Secretary warned

yesterday that all outdoor exercise

could be banned if people fail to

stick to the lockdown rules.

Matt Hancock also blasted sun-

bathers for risking lives at the

weekend as he implored Britons to

stay at home.

During the daily briefing from

No10 Downing Street, Mr Hancock

indicated that the even stricter

measures were not “imminent” but

ministers would not hesitate to

crack down if people continued to

flout official guidelines.

Current instructions state that

everyone should only leave home

to buy food; for health reasons; to

get outdoor exercise once a day; or

to go to work if they cannot do

because the vast majority are fol-

lowing the rules.”

Mr Hancock also praised the

“vast majority” of people for stick-

ing to the Government’s advice.

And he said the end of the lock-

down would be determined by

“how much people follow the rules

on social distancing”.

He added: “The more people fol-

low the rules then the faster we will

all be through it.”

Mr Hancock, who has recovered

from Covid-19, also said he

“understands how difficult” coro-

navirus is for the country, and that

he knew two people who had died

from the disease. He said: “I’ve lost

two people I was fond of” although

he did not name them. One is

thought to be Steven Dick, who

served as Deputy British

Ambassador to Hungary.

Mr Hancock added: “The rules

are there for a reason, even for

those of us who have had it where

the science predicts it’s likely our

immunity is higher and our ability

to transmit the virus is lower.

“We are not yet confident

enough how high the immunity is

and how much lower the likelihood

of those of us who have had the

disease transmitting it is, to be able

to change the rules. The rules are

the same for everyone and will be

until the science can give us confi-

dence that we can say something

different to those who have been

through it.” He spoke after several

countries banned outdoor exercise.

His reminder for Britons to stay

at home was echoed at the news

briefing by England’s deputy chief

medical officer Dr Jenny Harries.

She said: “We have set those rules,

we are enforcing against those rules

and we will reiterate those rules.

“Because that is the best way

to be able to bend the curve

down and stop the spread of the

virus.” She also confirmed that care

homes were “critical domains” and

were high up on the priority list for

coronavirus testing.

Meanwhile Prof Neil Ferguson,

who has helped shape the

Government’s Covid-19 response,

said the UK’s outbreak is likely to

peak in seven to ten days – and that

social distancing measures could be

relaxed within weeks.

New hospital admissions had

started to fall and he expected the

decline to accelerate this week.

But he also told the BBC: “We

are not at the level of being able to

predict to the nearest day when the

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Q

Should people who

ignore lockdown

rules face big fines?

their job from home. But yesterday

and Saturday saw some people

sun-bathing and socialising as the

weather warmed up.

In a direct plea to people who

were breaking the rules, Mr

Hancock said: “You are risking

your own life and the lives of

others and you are making it

harder for us all.

“We have included exercise as

one of the things that you can leave

your house to do because exercise

is good for our physical and our

mental health – but please do not

bend or break this rule.

“We can’t rule out further steps.

“But I don’t want anyone to

think that any changes to the social

distancing rules are imminent

Warned by police... Dr Calderwood

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SCOTLAND’S chief medical officer was

forced into a humiliating public apology

yesterday after she was photographed

visiting her family’s second home

during the coronavirus lockdown and

warned by police.

Amid calls from some politicians to

stand down, Dr Catherine Calderwood, 51,

admitted her reasons for visiting the

house were “not legitimate” and she was

“truly sorry for not following advice she

gave to others”.

She announced she was now

withdrawing from daily media briefings

during the coronavirus pandemic. Dr

Calderwood’s visit with her husband to

their coastal retreat in Fife came days after

she tweeted a photo of her family clapping

for frontline NHS staff from their main

home in Edinburgh.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon

said Dr Calderwood had “made a mistake”

and was “learning from her error”.

Ms Sturgeon said: “Whatever her

reasons for doing so, it was wrong and she

knows that.”

Police Scotland’s chief constable, Iain

Livingstone, said officers had visited

Dr Calderwood and warned her about

her conduct.

Members of the Scottish Liberal

Democrats and Scottish Labour called for

Dr Calderwood to resign.

But Dr Calderwood said she had spoken

to Ms Sturgeon and would “continue to

focus entirely” on her job of advising

ministers over the Covid-19 outbreak.

Last month, the Scottish Government

issued a travel warning criticising the

“irresponsible behaviour” of people with

second homes and campervans travelling

to the Highlands in a bid to isolate.

By Martyn Brown

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Shirley Watts makes an emotional plea Jake Savoie the only face patients see

NURSES on the frontline facing the

emotional burden of caring for coronavirus

patients have been moved to tears by

the challenge they face.

In a moving video message, Shirley Watts,

an operating theatre nurse at a hospital in

Basildon, Essex, urged people to take on

board Government advice to stay at home

to ease the pressure on the NHS.

As tears streamed down her face, she said:

“We’re on our knees here and it’s really

difficult and we’re all trying the best we can

and we don’t feel, we like, you know, we

feel like we could be doing more and I

know we can’t.

“We’re staying away from our families

and we are putting ourselves in danger to

try and save other people’s loved ones and

it feels like a losing battle but it’s not,

because we have all got hope and we

are trying to do what we can.

“If you heard of anyone saying, ‘It’s not a

big deal and we can go out’, I want you to

say to them, ‘No, you need to at stay home’.

“ You need to stay at home and you

need to help protect the NHS as we are

struggling at the moment to do everything

that we need to do.”

Nurse Jake Savoie shared a selfie wearing

personal protective equipment (PPE) at

work. He said: “The PPE you see in my

picture is just a glimpse of what a suspected/

positive Covid patient sees at all hours of

the day/night whenever ANYONE is

required to enter their room (the room in

which they spend all other hours ALONE).

“These patients have no normal human

interaction from the moment they step

inside the hospital until they are officially

declared negative, until the virus has run

its course, or until they sadly take their

last breath.

“My heart broke more and more each

time that I’d walk into a patient’s room and

see the fear in their eyes.

“Think about this the next time you

consider going out because you are tired of

your only human interaction being through

FaceTime or with those in your household.”

By Liz Perkins