Boris Johnson needs to earn public faith, not offer glib assurances, if the next four weeks are to have the impact needed
Boris Johnson is still suggesting it could all be over by Christmas. The public, as well as Conservative MPs, can be forgiven for scepticism. The government has made too many promises on coronavirus, and done too little, too late, too often. We are already paying the price. As England began its second lockdown on Thursday, almost 500 deaths linked to Covid-19 were recorded in the UK. Those numbers will climb: Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, warned that hospitals hold 11,000 Covid patients, up from 2,000 in early October. How high the daily death tolls rise, and how long they continue, will depend on whether the government and public use these four weeks wisely. How long restrictions last, how strict they are and whether we must face them repeatedly also depends on what happens in the coming days.
The abrupt announcement by the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, that he was extending the furlough scheme until March was a welcome but too tardy U-turn, like the lockdown itself. It is further proof that there will be no return to life as normal on 2 December. Wednesday’s Tory rebellion on the new measures resulted from the sense that the government has no long-term plan or ability to handle this pandemic, as well as from libertarianism. Restrictions could yet be tightened: while keeping schools open has been a priority, for good reasons, it may not be right if the picture becomes much worse.
