Sky Eclat
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 17, 2012
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The UK is at the moment of maximum risk in the coronavirus outbreak, Boris Johnson has said, as he urged people not to lose patience with the lockdown.
Speaking outside No 10 for the first time since recovering from the virus, Mr Johnson said "we are now beginning to turn the tide" on the disease.
But he refused to "to throw away all the effort and sacrifice of the British people" and risk a second peak.
The PM returned to work on Sunday after more than three weeks off sick.
Mr Johnson apologised for being "away from my desk for much longer than I would've liked" and thanked his colleagues who stood in for him - as well as the public for their "sheer grit and guts".
'Invisible mugger'
In the speech on Monday morning, Mr Johnson said he understood concerns from business-owners who were impatient to end the lockdown, but warned a second peak of the outbreak could lead to "economic disaster".
"I ask you to contain your impatience," he added.
He said there were "real signs now that we are passing through the peak" - including with fewer hospital admissions and fewer Covid-19 patients in intensive care.
And comparing the fight to someone being attacked, Mr Johnson said: "If this virus were a physical assailant, an unexpected and invisible mugger - which I can tell you from personal experience, it is - then this is the moment when we have begun together to wrestle it to the floor.
"And so it follows that this is the moment of opportunity, this is the moment when we can press home our advantage, it is also the moment of maximum risk.
"I know there will be many people looking at our apparent success, and beginning to wonder whether now is the time to go easy on those social distancing measures."
Speaking outside No 10 for the first time since recovering from the virus, Mr Johnson said "we are now beginning to turn the tide" on the disease.
But he refused to "to throw away all the effort and sacrifice of the British people" and risk a second peak.
The PM returned to work on Sunday after more than three weeks off sick.
Mr Johnson apologised for being "away from my desk for much longer than I would've liked" and thanked his colleagues who stood in for him - as well as the public for their "sheer grit and guts".
'Invisible mugger'
In the speech on Monday morning, Mr Johnson said he understood concerns from business-owners who were impatient to end the lockdown, but warned a second peak of the outbreak could lead to "economic disaster".
"I ask you to contain your impatience," he added.
He said there were "real signs now that we are passing through the peak" - including with fewer hospital admissions and fewer Covid-19 patients in intensive care.
And comparing the fight to someone being attacked, Mr Johnson said: "If this virus were a physical assailant, an unexpected and invisible mugger - which I can tell you from personal experience, it is - then this is the moment when we have begun together to wrestle it to the floor.
"And so it follows that this is the moment of opportunity, this is the moment when we can press home our advantage, it is also the moment of maximum risk.
"I know there will be many people looking at our apparent success, and beginning to wonder whether now is the time to go easy on those social distancing measures."
