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Category: Coronavirus

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2020 Speech on the Coronavirus

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2020 Speech on the Coronavirus

    Below is the text of the speech made by Jonathan Ashworth, the Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in the House of Commons on 22 April 2020.

    I am grateful to you, Mr Speaker, for making the arrangements for us to be able to participate in these circumstances. I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement.

    My thoughts are with all those who have lost their lives to this horrific virus. I pay tribute to the NHS staff who have lost their lives. I hope that, when this is over, we can find an appropriate way to remember the frontline NHS staff who gave their lives for all of us. May we also remember those social care staff who have also lost their lives? Will the Secretary of State tell us the actual number of social care staff who have sadly died? The First Secretary did not have those figures at his fingertips a few moments ago.​

    It looks like we are heading for one the worst death rates in Europe. The Government have been careful to always say that they are following scientific advice. Will the Secretary of State tell us the explanation from the Government’s scientists for why our death rate seems so poor when compared with Germany’s, for example? Will he undertake to publish the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies’ minutes, which have not been published? Will he also undertake to publish the evidence on why we are following a seven-day rule for isolation? That appears to contradict the World Health Organisation, which suggests a 14-day rule for isolation.

    As the virus develops, we see that, while it attacks the respiratory system, it also attacks cells throughout the body with ACE2 receptors, leading to cardiovascular and renal failure. In the same way that the Secretary of State can convene SAGE and other committees, will he convene the clinical societies so that we can share understanding of the disease among clinicians regarding how best to treat the disease as research emerges?

    I am sure that the Secretary of State is struck, as I am, by the high proportion of deaths among black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. We see that in the United States, too. He has launched an inquiry. Will he update the House on that and tell us when it will report?

    I am sure the Secretary of State is as horrified as I am by the deaths in care homes and nursing homes. This was always a high-risk sector, which is why we have long called for a social care strategy. Will he undertake to do four things? Will he ensure that all deaths are recorded on a daily basis?

    The CQC suggested today that the death rate in care homes is double what was reported by the ONS yesterday. Can he ensure that testing for staff is delivered in care homes at local NHS sites or by mobile units? It is clearly ludicrous to expect care workers to travel for miles and miles to drive-through testing centres. Can he ensure that PPE supply systems for the NHS are expanded to the social care sector as well? The Secretary of State said in the past that the NHS will get whatever it takes. Will the social care sector now get funding to cover the huge costs that it is facing, which are associated with increased staffing levels and PPE? I join him in praising the leadership of the NHS for what it has done.

    The Secretary of State gave us the critical care figures. How many general and acute beds are currently empty in the NHS? If there are significant numbers of empty beds, could they be used for social care residents, or to start a return to elective surgery? We know that the lockdown is having an impact on people’s wider health. Cancer patients are going without treatment, and we know that elective waiting lists will rise. Can he tell us the latest estimates how high he thinks those lists will rise? There are also bound to be mental health problems associated with the lockdown.

    Many people are understandably angry that front-line staff do not seem to be getting PPE on time, and we do not seem to have taken part in some of the European procurement projects. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said that was because we missed an email. The Secretary of State said that we are now part of that project, but that prompts the question of why we were not part of it at the beginning. The senior civil servant at the Foreign Office said it was a political decision. ​Will the Secretary of State tell us exactly what went on? Will he publish the background briefing so that we can see exactly what happened?

    Finally, I agree that testing and contact tracing are vital to coming out of a lockdown. The Secretary of State talked about wanting to upscale contact tracing, but that is very labour-intensive. Can we use the 750,000 volunteers who have signed up to do some of that contact tracing? The app that he mentioned is welcome. When will it be available? Is he proposing that it will be mandatory, or will it be voluntary? If it is voluntary, how will we ensure that it is taken up by the population? Will he comment on reports today that the PCR test, which has been used for some NHS staff, returned false results and that those staff had to be tested again? How many people have been affected by that? What is now in place to ensure that that does not happen again? If the Secretary of State cannot answer all those points today, I hope that he will write to me with the details at a later point.

  • Matt Hancock – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Matt Hancock – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Below is the text of the statement made by Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in the House of Commons on 22 April 2020.

    With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement on coronavirus.

    First, may I say how pleased I am that the House is sitting once again? At this important time, it is critical that we have the scrutiny and debate that the House provides. I thank everybody who was involved in setting up the new arrangements, which demonstrate that no virus or threat will thwart our democracy.

    Coronavirus continues to spread throughout the world. The latest figures show that 17,337 people have sadly died here. Our hearts—the hearts of the whole House—go out to their loved ones. I know that across the House we are united in our determination to fight this virus with everything we’ve got; today I want to update the House on each part of our battle plan.

    First, on the resilience of the NHS, I can tell the House that for the first time we now have over 3,000 spare critical care beds in the NHS. That is more than three times more than we had at the start of this crisis. It is thanks to the incredible work of an awful lot of people that we now have this extra spare capacity, even before we include the new Nightingale hospitals. Over the past two weeks, I have been lucky enough to attend, either in person or virtually, the opening of four of these new Nightingales—in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Harrogate—and there are several more to come, all across the UK, including in Belfast, Glasgow, Cardiff, Exeter and Sunderland. These incredible efforts from dedicated staff, supported by our armed forces, mean that our NHS has not at any point been overwhelmed by coronavirus. Some said this would be impossible.

    Today I want to reinforce the message that non-covid NHS services are open for patients: the NHS is there for you if you need advice and treatment. I want to address that message very clearly to those who might be vulnerable to heart attacks or stroke, to parents of young children, to pregnant women and to people with concerns that they may have cancer. I want to emphasise that people with non-coronavirus symptoms must still contact their GP. If you think you need medical help, please contact your GP, either online or by phone, to be assessed. If you need urgent medical advice, use NHS 111 online; if you cannot get online, call 111. And, of course, if something is serious or life-threatening, call 999. If you are told to go to hospital, the place you need to be is in hospital. The NHS is there for you and can provide the very best care if you need it.

    The second part of our battle plan is on supply and working to boost supplies of core equipment. The full weight of the Government is behind this effort. Again, we have brought in the armed forces to help us to meet this demand. This includes ventilators—both purchasing extra stock and increasing the production of new ones. We now have record numbers of ventilators, with 10,700 available for use for patients. This also includes medicines, so that we can make sure everyone has access to the supplies and treatments they need, and of course it ​includes personal protective equipment, too. In normal times, the NHS PPE supply chain supplies 233 hospital trusts. Currently, 58,000 separate health and social care settings are being supplied with PPE, so we are creating a whole new logistics network from scratch, and we have some of the best minds in the country working on this.

    I am grateful to colleagues from the NHS, Public Health England, the Crown Commercial Service, the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Ministry of Defence, the armed forces—again—the devolved Administrations, territorial offices, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Treasury, the Foreign Office and the Department for International Trade, because they are all playing their part. Last week, I appointed Lord Deighton, who delivered the Olympics, to a new role in driving forward PPE manufacturing here.

    Since the start of this crisis, we have delivered over 1 billion items of PPE. We are constantly working to improve the delivery system and buying PPE from around the world. We are also working to make more at home, and I would like to thank the UK businesses that have generously come forward with offers to turn their production lines to this national effort. I also thank Members from across the House who have put us in contact with businesses in their constituencies. We are actively engaged with over 1,000 companies who buy from abroad and are working with 159 potential UK manufacturers. We have a rigorous system of verifying the offers that we receive, because not all offers have been credible and it is important to focus on the biggest, most credible offers first. This work is crucial so we can get our NHS and care staff the kit they need so that they can do their job safely and with confidence.

    The third part is to scale up testing. I have set the goal of 100,000 tests a day by the end of this month, and I am delighted to say that the expansion of capacity is ahead of plans, even though demand has thus far been lower than expected. We are therefore ramping up the availability of this testing, expanding who is eligible for testing and making it easier to access the tests. The tests are conducted in NHS hospitals, and through our drive-through centres, mobile units and home deliveries. These tests are then sent to laboratories. We have completed the construction of three Lighthouse Labs in Milton Keynes, Glasgow and Cheshire. Each site took just three weeks to complete and begin testing.

    As we have reached the peak and as we bring the number of new cases down, we will introduce contact tracing at large scale. The introduction of the new NHS app for contact tracing is also in development. As we do this, we are working closely with some of the best digital and technological brains, and renowned experts in clinical safety and digital ethics, so that we can get all this right. The more people who sign up for the new app when it goes live, the better informed our response will be and the better we can therefore protect the NHS.

    Fourthly, we need to make sure that we make the best possible use of science and research to pursue the vaccines and treatments that are essential to defeat the virus once and for all. Here, the UK is at the forefront of the global effort. We have put more money into the global efforts to search for a vaccine than any other country, and yesterday I announced over £40 million of funding for the two most promising UK projects—at Imperial ​and Oxford. The vaccine from the Oxford project will be trialled in people from tomorrow, and I am sure that the whole House agrees that that is a very promising development. I repeat what I said yesterday: in normal times, reaching this stage would take years. The innovative groups of people at both the Jenner Institute in Oxford and the regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, deserve our special praise. They are ensuring that the process is safe, yet conducted probably more rapidly than ever before. They deserve the support of the whole House in that work. At the same time, we will invest in manufacturing capability. If either of those vaccines works, we must be able to make them available for the British people as soon as humanly possible.

    The fifth measure that I will talk about in the time available is the one in which everyone can play their part: social distancing. I want to thank everyone across the country for their steadfast commitment in following the rules, including in this House. It is making a difference. We are at the peak. But before we relax or make changes to any social distancing rules, we have set out five tests that need to be met: first, that the NHS can continue to cope; secondly, that the operational challenges have been met; thirdly, that the daily death rate falls sustainably and consistently; fourthly, that the rate of infection is decreasing; and fifthly, and most importantly, that there is no risk of a second peak.

    Finally, we are working to protect the most vulnerable through shielding—this is the sixth part of our battle plan. There has been a huge effort across Government to contact and support those at risk. We have been boosted by the support and help of the heroic NHS volunteer responders, who signed up in droves within two days of our call to action. An unbelievable 750,000 people put themselves forward for this initiative. With those volunteers, and with the support of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the NHS and local councils, which have done amazing work on this, we are shielding the most vulnerable.

    These are unprecedented times for us all. We have all seen the extraordinary impact of coronavirus in our constituencies and across the country. And even though today we are physically separated, the House is at its best when we are united in our purpose and our resolve. I will keep working with Members from right across the House in the fight against this invisible killer. This may be akin to a war, but it is one where the whole of humanity is on the same side. I commend this statement to the House.

  • Michael Gove – 2020 Letter to Rachel Reeves on the Coronavirus

    Michael Gove – 2020 Letter to Rachel Reeves on the Coronavirus

    Below is the letter which was sent by Michael Gove, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, to Rachel Reeves on 22 April 2020.

    Text of letter (in .pdf format)

  • Conor McGinn – 2020 Statement on National Security Council Not Meeting

    Conor McGinn – 2020 Statement on National Security Council Not Meeting

    Below is the text of the statement made by Conor McGinn, the Shadow Minister of State for Security, on 22 April 2020.

    It is deeply worrying to find out that the National Security Council has not met since January.

    The immediate threat to our country posed by coronavirus does not mean that other aspects of national security can be ignored, or dealing with them postponed.

    The UK continues to face dangerous threats from terrorism, hostile states, organised crime and cybercrime.

    It is astonishing that the National Security Council, which is supposed to meet on a weekly basis, has not met for months and seemingly played no role during the national emergency caused by the coronavirus.

  • Dominic Raab – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Dominic Raab – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Below is the text of the statement made by Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, on 22 April 2020.

    Welcome to today’s Downing Street Press Conference.

    I’m pleased to be joined by Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty and also our Chief of the Defence Staff, Sir Nicholas Carter.

    Before CDS talks through the fantastic work that our brilliant armed forces have been doing during this crisis, let me give you an update you on the latest data from the COBR coronavirus data file.

    I can report that through the Government’s ongoing monitoring and testing programme, as of today:

    559,935 people have now been tested for the virus.

    133,495 have tested positive.

    Of those who have contracted the virus, 18,100 have very sadly died.

    We express our deepest condolences to the families and friends of these victims and my heart goes out to every single one of those who have lost a loved one throughout this crisis.

    As a Government, we continue to take the steps necessary to slow the spread of this virus.

    The social distancing measures that people have overwhelmingly adhered to have meant that fewer people have needed hospital treatment.

    That has protected our NHS capacity as we continue through the peak of this virus and it has undoubtedly helped to save lives.

    At every point in this crisis, we have considered the scientific and the medical evidence that we have received very carefully.

    And we have been deliberate in our actions so that we take the right steps at the right time.

    Now I know it has been tough going for businesses, for families and for vulnerable members of our communities up and down the country.

    It’s been a physical strain as we adapt to living and working at home while not seeing our family and our friends in the usual way we’d like to.

    It’s been an economic strain as businesses have had to furlough staff which is why the Chancellor launched the various business support measures to help see businesses and workers through these difficult times.

    But it has also been an immense mental strain on everyone: people stuck at home, families worried about their finances and the elderly more isolated than we’d ever want them to be.

    We’re making progress through the peak of this virus, but we’re not out of the woods yet as SAGE advised last week.

    That’s why the measures we introduced must remain in place for the time being.

    The greatest risk for us now, if we eased up on our social distancing rules too soon, is that we would risk a second spike in the virus with all the threats to life that would bring, and then the risk of a second lockdown which would prolong the economic pain that we’re going through.

    That was a point that Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England, also made earlier on today.

    So with that in mind, last Thursday, I set out the five principles that will guide our approach going forward to the next phase, and which must be satisfied before we are willing and in a position to make any changes, which will of course be based on the advice that we receive form SAGE.

    That way we will ensure that our path out of this crisis is sure-footed, protecting both the public’s health but also our economy.

    If we stick to our plan, if take the right steps at the right time, we can get through this crisis, and I know we will.

    There’s no hiding the scale of this tragedy.

    But even in our darkest moments, the crisis has also shone a light on the best amongst us.

    The nation has come together to applaud our heroic NHS staff, our carers every week, and we pay tribute to their dedication and their professionalism and care with which they look after those who have fallen sick.

    With General Carter here, today, I think it is only fitting to pay tribute to the amazing work of our fantastic armed forces and the whole MoD led by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.

    They have been there every step of the way, helping us to build the new NHS Nightingale hospitals to reinforce our critical care capacity. Supporting our Local Resilience Forums in delivering Personal Protective Equipment where it’s needed most.

    And helping also deliver the mobile labs which are critical to ramping up of testing capacity right across the country.

    As a result of those efforts and that team work, hospitals have been able to treat more patients, as result they save more lives and we have ensured that the peak of this virus has not overwhelmed the NHS.

    And, today, our armed forces are again part of that team as we announce two new deployments to the NHS Nightingale facilities in Harrogate and Bristol.

    Across the UK, this extra hospital capacity which itself comes on top of the 33,000 additional beds we’ve managed to free up across the NHS.

    That is the equivalent of building an extra 50 district general hospitals. And as I said, that has safeguarded the capacity in our hospitals to care both for coronavirus patients but also make sure other people get the urgent care or the emergency treatment they need.

    People used to joke in this country that you could never build a hospital that quickly.

    Well, we didn’t just build one, we built seven and we thank our armed forces for helping to make that happen.

    And, you know, for many countries around the world, including modern democracies, the sight of their military on the streets in a national emergency could be a cause for concern or even trepidation.

    But for the British people, the sight of our armed forces working side by side with our brilliant NHS staff offers a calm reassurance that the task is at hand, that we will come through this crisis.

    Now I make no bones about it.

    There have been challenges, there still are challenges.

    We’re not there yet. We continue to ramp up the testing capacity, which will play a really important role in the next phase of the crisis.

    Amidst a global shortage in Personal Protective Equipment, we’ve distributed over a billion items to the front line, where its needed most.

    We’ve just brought in Lord Deighton who helped organise the London Olympics to boost our domestic supply even further.

    And I am on the phone every day pursuing the next batch of deliveries from abroad with the support of our tireless diplomatic service. The first of several new deliveries landed from Turkey in the early hours of this morning.

    We will only come through this global pandemic, if we come together as a nation, and if we bring other countries around the world together so that we can rise to this international challenge.

    As we work with our partners abroad to get the PPE we need, to get the ventilators we need to pursue a vaccine for this terrible virus, we’re also working night and day to return stranded British nationals from all four corners of the world.

    We’ve kept airports open and airlines running to bring over a million Brits home on commercial flights. A massive endeavour.

    On top of that, at the FCO, we set up a £75 million special charter arrangement with the airlines and that’s already brought home over thirteen thousand people back on 63 flights from more than a dozen countries.

    And, we’re organising more charter flights in the days ahead from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

    So at home and abroad, we’re meeting the whole range of challenges that coronavirus presents.

    And if we stick together, and if we stay the course, we will defeat this virus for good.

  • Rishi Sunak – 2020 Statement on Coronavirus

    Rishi Sunak – 2020 Statement on Coronavirus

    Below is the text of the statement made by Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 20 April 2020.

    Good evening from Downing Street, where I’m joined by Professor Angela McLean, Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser, and Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director of Public Health England.

    Before I provide an update on the economic situation, let me start by addressing the issue uppermost on people’s minds – personal protective equipment, or PPE.

    This is an international challenge that many other countries are experiencing.

    Alongside the efforts of British businesses and our embassies around the world, we are working hard to get the PPE our frontline NHS and social care staff need.

    We have appointed Paul Deighton, formerly Chief Executive of London 2012 Olympics, to lead on our domestic efforts to make an increase the supply of PPE.

    And we are receiving shipments of PPE regularly from suppliers in the UK and abroad.

    We’re working to resolve the Turkish shipment of PPE as soon as possible, following some unexpected delays at the weekend.

    Today, we have unloaded a shipment of 140,000 gowns from Myanmar.

    And we are, of course, continuing to pursue every possible option for PPE procurement.

    Let me turn now to the economic situation.

    Exactly a month ago today I stood at this lectern and said we would step in and help pay to people’s wages.

    We promised this support would be available by the end of April – today, we deliver our promise.

    HMRC opened the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme at 8 o’clock this morning.

    As of 4 o’clock this afternoon, over 140,000 firms have applied…

    and the grants they’ll receive will help pay the wages of more than a million people…

    …a million people who, if they hadn’t been furloughed, would have been at risk of losing their job.

    Firms applying today should receive their cash in six working days. HMRC will continue to provide updates on the number of people furloughed.

    And let me put on record my thanks to the thousands of staff at HMT and HMRC who have made this happen.

    People have come out of retirement, put aside their normal duties, and worked around the clock, from their kitchen tables and spare rooms, to get this new system up and running.

    This remarkable story of public service reminds us how many different people are playing a role in this crisis – and I’m very grateful to all of them, for everything they’ve done.

    It’s important to be clear why we have introduced the CJRS, and the other schemes we’ve put in place to support the self-employed and businesses.

    We’ve never seen an economic crisis like this one.

    Times like this demand that we put aside ideology and orthodoxy.

    Times like this demand that the state turns to its most immediate purpose: the protection and support of its people.

    The goal of the new schemes we’ve developed is to maintain as many people as possible in their existing jobs;

    to support viable businesses to stay afloat;

    and to protect the incomes of the self-employed to allow them to trade again.

    To maintain, in other words, our economy’s productive capacity so that we can bridge through this crisis.

    That is what we have done – and the Office for Budget Responsibility said last week that the situation would have been much worse if it hadn’t been for our actions.

    But in everything we have done, even in our defence against the immediate crisis, we have also been sowing the seeds of our ultimate recovery.

    As we look ahead and start to plan for our recovery, it is critical we don’t just maintain companies and jobs that already exist…

    …but that we also encourage the businesses, jobs and technologies of the future.

    Innovation and entrepreneurship have powered growth in our country for centuries; and it is what will drive our growth as we recover from this crisis.

    To that end, earlier today, I launched two initiatives to support the most innovative firms in the county, worth £1.25 billion.

    First, we are launching a new Future Fund worth £500 million, to make sure that high growth companies across the UK can continue to access the investment they need during the crisis.

    Launching in May, the Future Fund will provide UK-based early stage companies with convertible loans between £125,000 and £5 million.

    Our Future Fund will match investments made by private investors in early stage businesses, on terms that protect the UK taxpayer.

    Second, alongside the new Future Fund, the Business Secretary, Alok Sharma, has worked closely with Innovate UK – our national innovation agency…

    …to provide £750 million of grant and loan funding for tens of thousands of highly innovative firms…

    …in every sector, and every region and nation of the UK.

    He, like I, believes strongly in the role of innovation and enterprise in recovering our economy.

    As I said last week, right now, the most important thing we can do for the health of our economy is to protect the health of our people.

    We must continue to slow the spread of the virus;

    to make sure fewer people need hospital treatment at any one time;

    and protect the NHS’s ability to cope.

    Today, the government’s ongoing monitoring and testing programme reports:

    501,379 tests for coronavirus have now been carried out, including 19,316 tests carried out yesterday
    124,743 people have tested positive, an increase of 4,676 cases since yesterday
    17,971 people are currently in hospital with coronavirus in the UK

    and sadly, of those who have been hospitalised, 16,509 have now died – an increase of 449 fatalities since yesterday.

    Our thoughts are with the families and friends of all those who have lost their lives.

    As we look forward, towards the next stage in our battle against this disease, there are encouraging signs we have been making progress.

    But before we consider it safe to adjust any of the current social distancing measures, we must be satisfied that we have met the five tests set out last week by the First Secretary.

    Those tests mean that the NHS can continue to cope;

    that the daily death rate falls sustainably and consistently;

    that the rate of infection is decreasing; that the operational challenges have been met;

    and, most importantly, that there is no risk of a second peak.

    So I want to thank each and every person across the UK who is following the government’s advice to stay at home, protect our NHS and, ultimately, save lives.

    Thank you.

  • Gavin Williamson – 2020 Statement on Coronavirus

    Gavin Williamson – 2020 Statement on Coronavirus

    Below is the text of the statement made by Gavin Williamson, the Secretary of State for Education, in the House of Commons on 19 April 2020.

    I’d like to welcome you to today’s briefing from Downing Street.

    I am joined by Jenny Harries, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, who will be sharing with you the latest detailed data on coronavirus.

    On any normal Sunday afternoon, many of you would have been out with your family and friends enjoying the sunshine. And tomorrow, many children would be going to school for the first time after a two-week break.

    But these are not normal times and we are asking you to stay at home, so can I start by thanking you for all the sacrifices that you’ve already had to make and that you continue to make.

    I know this has not been easy. But it’s the surest way that we have to protect the NHS and to save lives.

    I can report, through the Government’s ongoing monitoring and testing programme, as of today 482,063 tests for coronavirus have been carried out in Great Britain, including 21,626 test carried out yesterday.

    120,067 people have tested positive – that’s an increase of 5,850 cases since yesterday. 18,118 people are currently in hospital with coronavirus in the UK, compared to 18,006 on 17 April.

    And sadly, of those hospitalised with the virus, 16,060 have now died. That’s an increase of 596 fatalities since yesterday.

    We mustn’t forget that behind every single statistic there is a heart-breaking story and my sincere condolences go out to everyone has lost someone that they love.

    These are challenging times for all of us and each of us has a role to play in fighting this virus. Those who are working in the NHS, those doctors, nurses, porters, cleaners and ambulance crews. They’re all doing an amazing job and are truly heroic in the part they are playing in supporting every one of us in this nation.

    But today I would also like to say how enormously grateful we are to those who are working in our nurseries, schools colleges, universities and children’s services.

    I am profoundly grateful for the vital role they are providing in our communities.

    They have been keeping schools and nurseries open – including over the Easter holidays – so that our most vulnerable children and children of critical workers can continue to be supported and they can be cared for.

    People are anxious to know when we are going to relax restrictions and when schools are likely to be fully back and open again. Of course, I want nothing more than to get schools back to normal, make sure that children are sat around learning and experiencing the joy of being at school.

    But I can’t give you a date, because before we do, we need to meet five tests.

    First, we must protect the NHS’s ability to cope and be sure that it can continue to provide critical care and specialist treatment right across the whole of the UK.

    Second, we need to see the daily death rates from coronavirus coming down.

    Third, we need to have reliable data that shows the rate of infection is decreasing to manageable levels.

    Fourth, we need to be confident that testing capacity and PPE are being managed, with supply able to meet not just today’s demand, but future demand.

    And, fifth, and perhaps most crucially, we need to be confident any changes we do make will not risk a second peak of infections.

    When we can be sure we have met these five essential points, we can think about getting children into schools again – learning, mastering new ideas and being with their friends once more.

    We will work with the sector to consider how best to reopen schools, nurseries and colleges when the time is right.

    Our first priority has always been protecting the wellbeing of children and young people, but particularly those vulnerable young people with special educational needs or a social worker.

    Schools are open for them and we’re working to make sure those who should attend do so.

    Places are available for children of critical workers too. With up to 130,000 children in school every single day, schools are helping keep the country moving.

    And we are asking our local authorities and schools to ensure every vulnerable child knows that their school is there to support them, that systems are in place to keep in touch with those children who are unable to attend because of health reasons.

    I know that families of seriously ill and disabled children are particularly worried at this time and I’m grateful to all staff who are working so hard to support their education, health and care – particularly those in special schools and residential care homes.

    Young people who have left care or are just about to, whether that’s from a foster family or residential care, are really vulnerable right now. So I am asking local authorities to ensure that no one has to leave care during this difficult time.

    The £1.6 billion of additional funding announced yesterday will help local authorities give care leavers, and other vulnerable groups, the support that they need at this difficult time.

    To further protect children from harm, we are continuing to support Childline and working with NSPCC to expand and promote the adult helpline by providing them with an extra £1.6 million.

    This means children have someone to call and more adults will be able to raise concerns and seek advice about the safety and wellbeing of any child that they’re worried about.

    Like the rest of the population, all our teachers have had to adapt very quickly to new ways of working. They have had to move resources online, work remotely, change the way they support their students as well as one another.

    I am immensely grateful to them and to everyone who has offered their support, including those who have made resources freely available for schools, parents and pupils to use.

    We have already published an initial list of high quality online educational resources including how to support physical and mental wellbeing and materials for teaching children with special educational needs and disabilities.

    In yet another example of how we are at our best when we work together, some of our leading state schools have collaborated to open The Oak National Academy, which will be launched online tomorrow.

    This is a totally new initiative, led by 40 brilliant teachers who have assembled video lessons and resources for any teacher in the country to make use of if they wish to do so. 180 video lessons will be provided each week, across a broad range of subjects, for every year group from Reception through to Year 10.

    I recognise all the challenges that families will be facing at the moment and we are determined to support parents who are helping their children learn from home. I think we all know how difficult that can be.

    The BBC has developed resources for families as part of the most comprehensive education package in their history, available on TV and online from tomorrow morning.

    And to make sure as many children as possible can access online learning, we are ordering laptops to help disadvantaged young people who sit key exams next year.

    We will also provide laptops and tablets for those children with social workers and care leavers to help them stay in touch with the services they need, keeping them safe and supporting home learning.

    And if disadvantaged secondary school pupils and care leavers who are preparing for exams do not already have internet connections, we’ll provide free 4G routers to get them connected while schools are closed.

    We are also working with major telecommunications providers to exempt certain educational resources from data charges, so that this does not add to household expenses that may already be very stretched at this moment.

    Before I finish, I would like to applaud the remarkable way our education community has responded to this outbreak. I am enormously proud and inspired by the incredible spirit they are showing.

    Schools are supporting their communities in every way, from preparing food parcels to sharing their facilities with local hospitals. Colleges are manufacturing and donating equipment and universities are working flat out to develop diagnostic tests and, of course, a vaccine which will help us beat this invisible enemy.

    And to any young people watching, I wanted to say to you how sorry I am that you have had your education disrupted in this way.

    I know how hard it must be and I would like to thank you for making the adjustments you have had to make.

    I know you will be missing your friends, your teachers and your lessons. I want you to know that you are an important part of this fight too and I cannot thank you enough for all that you are doing.

    This global pandemic is the biggest threat that this country has faced in modern times. If we all continue to work together, as we have been, and if we continue to stick to the advice of our experts, we will come out the other side and be able to begin the task of rebuilding our communities.

    I would like now to hand over to Jenny and then we will take some questions.

  • Alok Sharma – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Alok Sharma – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Below is the text of the statement made by Alok Sharma, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on 17 April 2020.

    Good afternoon. I am joined today by the government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance and Dr Yvonne Doyle who is the medical director of Public Health England.

    Before I talk about some decisions taken today, and Sir Patrick provides an update on the latest data, I would like to set out the steps we are taking to defeat coronavirus.

    Our step-by-step action plan is aiming to slow the spread of the virus so fewer people need hospital treatment at any one time, protecting the NHS’s ability to cope.

    At each point we have been following scientific and medical advice and we have been deliberate in our actions – taking the right steps at the right time.

    We are also taking unprecedented action to increase NHS capacity by dramatically expanding the numbers of beds, key staff and life-saving equipment on the front-line to give people the care they need when they need it most.

    This is why we are instructing people to stay at home, so we can protect our NHS and save lives.

    I can report that through the government’s ongoing monitoring and testing programme, as of today:

    A total of 438,991 people in the UK have now been tested for coronavirus, that includes 21,328 tests carried out yesterday.

    Of those, 108,692 people have tested positive.

    That is an increase of 5,599 cases since yesterday.

    18,978 people are currently in hospital with coronavirus in the UK.

    And sadly, of those hospitalised with the virus, 14,576 have now died.

    That is an increase of 847 fatalities since yesterday.

    We must never forget that behind every statistic is a family member or a friend.

    And all our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives.

    These figures are a powerful reminder to us all of the importance of following the government’s guidance.

    And as the Foreign Secretary outlined yesterday, the current social distancing measures will remain in place for at least the next 3 weeks.

    And there are 5 tests that must be satisfied before we will consider it safe to adjust any of the current measures.

    First, we must protect the NHS’s ability to cope. We must be confident that we are able to provide sufficient critical care and specialist treatment right across the UK.

    Second, we need to see a sustained and consistent fall in the daily death rate from coronavirus, so we can be confident that we have moved beyond the peak.

    Third, we need to have reliable data from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) showing that the rate of infection is decreasing to manageable levels across the board.

    Fourth, we need to be confident that the range of operational challenges, including testing capacity and PPE, are in hand, with supply able to meet future demand.

    Fifth, and most importantly, we need to be confident that any adjustments to the current measures will not risk a second peak of infections that overwhelm the NHS.

    The worst thing we could do now, is ease up too soon and allow a second peak of the virus to hit the NHS and hit the British people.

    So I want to thank each and every person across the UK who is following and supporting the government’s advice to stay at home, in order that we protect our NHS and, ultimately, save lives.

    I know we are asking you to make sacrifices. And it is challenging. But we need to keep going. Working together, we will defeat this invisible enemy.

    Now is not the time to let up. The risk still persists – not only for yourself, but for the people around you. So we must stay vigilant.

    But of course, the point we hope to get to, one of the ways we can defeat this virus, is to find a vaccine.

    Just as Edward Jenner developed the smallpox vaccine in the eighteenth century, we need to apply the best of British scientific endeavour to the search for the coronavirus vaccine.

    To that end I can announce today, that the government has set up a Vaccines Taskforce to co-ordinate the efforts of government, academia and industry towards a single goal:

    To accelerate the development of a coronavirus vaccine.

    This taskforce is up and running and aims to ensure that a vaccine is made available to the public, as quickly as possible.

    The taskforce, reporting to me and the Health Secretary, is led by Sir Patrick and Professor Jonathan van Tam.

    It comprises representatives from government, industry, academia and regulators.

    Members include Government Life Sciences Champion Sir John Bell, as well as AstraZeneca, and the Wellcome Trust.

    The taskforce will support progress across all stages of vaccine development, at pace.

    It will back Britain’s most promising research, positioning the UK as a leader in clinical vaccine testing and manufacturing.

    The taskforce will co-ordinate with regulators to facilitate trials which are both rapid and well supervised.

    And it will work with industry in the UK and internationally, so we are in a position to manufacture vaccines at scale.

    This will build on the Prime Minister’s announcement last month of a further £210 million for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the international fund to find a vaccine.

    I can confirm that the government has green lighted a further 21 research projects to help fight coronavirus.

    In total, these projects will receive £14 million from a £25 million government research investment and include backing the development of a vaccine at Imperial College London.

    This follows support for 6 projects, announced last month, including vaccine development led by Professor Sarah Gilbert at the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute. This is already carrying out preclinical trials and, with government support, will shortly move into a clinical trial phase.

    And we are looking forward. So when we do make a breakthrough, we are ready to manufacture it by the millions.

    One tool in this fight will be the UK’s first Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre based in Harwell.

    A project that will help build our capacity to develop and mass produce vaccines here in the UK.

    The government will be accelerating the building of this facility.

    The Bioindustry Association is also working closely with our taskforce and bringing together a whole range of businesses keen to use their expertise to mass produce vaccines, as soon as one is ready.

    I want to pay a heartfelt tribute to all the scientists and researchers, working tirelessly, on these projects.

    Yet even with all their efforts, we should be under no illusions.

    Producing a vaccine is a colossal undertaking.

    A complex process which will take many months.

    There are no guarantees.

    But the government is backing our scientists, betting big to maximise the chances of success.

    I am proud of how, again and again, Britain has stepped up and answered the call to action.

    An enormous challenge being tackled through a vast national effort.

    Where problem-solvers, from science, business and government join forces to beat this invisible killer.

    We cannot put a date on when we will get a vaccine.

    But we live in a country with a rich history of pioneering science.

    And with the government backing our scientists we have the best chance to do this as quickly as possible.

  • Dominic Raab – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Dominic Raab – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Below is the text of the statement made by Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, on 16 April 2020.

    Good afternoon,

    Welcome to the daily coronavirus press conference from Downing Street.

    I’m joined by Sir Patrick Valance, the Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor, and Professor Chris Whitty, the Government’s Chief Medical Officer.

    Sir Patrick will provide an update on the latest data on coronavirus.

    But, first, let me update you on the steps we are taking to defeat the coronavirus, and the decisions we have taken today.

    Step-by-step, our action plan aims to slow the spread of the virus.

    So that fewer people need hospital treatment at any one time, and that is the way we can protect the NHS from being overwhelmed.

    At every step along this way, we have followed, very carefully and deliberately, the scientific and medical advice that we have received.

    So that we take the right steps at the right moment in time.

    At the same time, we are dramatically expanding NHS capacity, in terms of the numbers of beds, key staff and life-saving equipment on the front-line, so people get the care they need, at the point in time that they need it most.

    And that’s also why we have directed people to stay at home. To deny coronavirus the opportunity to spread, to protect the NHS and save lives.

    Now, today’s data shows that:

    327, 608 people in the UK have now been tested for the coronavirus;

    103,093 people have tested positive;

    And sadly, of those with the virus, 13,729 have now died.

    These are heart-breaking losses for every family affected.

    And it remind us exactly why we need to follow the social distancing guidance.

    Earlier today, I chaired meetings of the Cabinet and COBR to consider the advice from SAGE on the impact of the existing social distancing measures.

    There are indications that the measures we have put in place have been successful in slowing down the spread of the virus.

    But, SAGE also say that it is a mixed and inconsistent picture and, in some settings, infections are still likely to be increasing.

    SAGE assess that the rate of infection, or the R value, is almost certainly below 1 in the community.

    That means that on average each infected person is, in turn, infecting less than one other person. But, overall, we still don’t have the infection rate down as far as we need to.

    As in other countries, we have issues with the virus spreading in some hospitals and care homes.

    In sum, the very clear advice we have received is that any change to our social distancing measures now would risk a significant increase in the spread of the virus. That would threaten a second peak of the virus, and substantially increase the number of deaths.

    It would undo the progress made to date, and as a result, would require an even longer period of the more restrictive social distancing measures. So early relaxation would do more damage to the economy over a longer period.

    I want to be clear about this. The advice from SAGE is that relaxing any of the measures currently in place would risk damage to both public health and our economy.

    Patrick and Chris will be able to go into further detail on all of this shortly.

    But based on this advice, the Government has determined that current measures must remain in place for at least the next 3 weeks.

    Now, in terms of the decisions that lie ahead, we want to be as up front with the British people as we possibly can.

    So, let me set out 5 specific things which the Government will need to be satisfied of before we will consider it safe to adjust any of the current measures.

    First, we must protect the NHS’s ability to cope.

    We must be confident that we are able to provide sufficient critical care and specialist treatment right across the UK.

    The NHS staff have been incredible.

    We must continue to support them as much as we can.

    Second, we need to see a sustained and consistent fall in the daily death rates from coronavirus so we are confident that we have moved beyond the peak.

    Third, we need to have reliable data from SAGE showing that the rate of infection is decreasing to manageable levels across the board.

    Fourth, we need to be confident that the range of operational challenges, including testing capacity and PPE, are in hand, with supply able to meet future demand.

    Fifth, and this is really crucial, we need to be confident that any adjustments to the current measures will not risk a second peak of infections that overwhelm the NHS.

    The worst thing we could do now is ease up too soon and allow a second peak of the virus to hit the NHS and hit the British people.

    It would be the worst outcome, not just for public health, but for the economy and for our country as a whole.

    So, the current restrictions will remain in place.

    The Government will continue to monitor the data on the impact of the virus.

    We will soon be able to test 100,000 people every day.

    That will give us greater understanding of the scope of infection across the country.

    It will also help us plan how to change the measures when we are ready to.

    When we are confident on these five points.

    Guided by science and data, we will look to adjust the measures to make them as effective as possible in protecting public health, while allowing some economic and social activity to resume.

    We will only do it, when the evidence demonstrates that is safe to do it.

    It could involve relaxing measures in some areas, while strengthening measures in other areas.

    But in formulating the right balance we will be at all times guided by the scientific advice and the evidence.

    I should add at this point that we recognise all the economic and social impact the current measures are having.

    That is why we put in place an unprecedented package of support for jobs and businesses, as well as for hospices and charities who are doing so much to support the most vulnerable in our society.

    And, I know that many people would like to hear more detail, some people are calling for exact dates, on what will happen next, and when.

    We are as being as open as we responsibly can at this stage.

    And it would not be responsible to pre-judge the evidence that SAGE will have and review in just a few weeks’ time.

    I know some people will look at other countries, and ask why the UK isn’t doing what they’re doing.

    I can reassure people that we carefully follow what is happening in other countries.

    We will always look to learn any lessons in how they are approaching their response.

    And I’m talking to Foreign Ministers on a daily basis, I know Chris and Patrick are doing the same with their opposite numbers around the world. Ultimately, we have to do what is right for the British people, based on the advice of our experts, Grounded in the conditions here in the UK, and we will make those decisions at the right time for this country.

    That’s what we have done so far.

    That’s what we will continue to do.

    I appreciate the impact of these measures is considerable on people and businesses across the country. The costs being shouldered.

    The sacrifices people are making.

    Being isolated from friends and family.

    Whole Households, cooped up inside, all week long.

    Parents having difficult conversations with their young children, who just don’t understand why they can’t visit grandparents or go outside and meet up with friends as they normally do.

    Families struggling managing home-schooling, and balancing that with working from home.

    I know there are people very concerned about their household finances.

    Uncertain about their jobs.

    Worried for their small businesses that remain closed. We get it.

    We know it’s rough going at this time

    Every time I come to this lectern, and I read out the grim toll of people who have so sadly passed away.

    I walk away from here, and I think about what their sons and their daughters must be going through right now.

    Their brothers and sisters.

    Their grandchildren.

    All the loved ones left with their unbearable, long-term, grief.

    It makes me and it makes this government focus even harder on what we must do.

    And, I know that, together, united, we must keep up this national effort for a while longer.

    We’ve just come too far, we’ve lost too many loved ones, we’ve already sacrificed far too much to ease up now, especially when we’re beginning to see the evidence that our efforts are starting to pay off.

    And your efforts are paying off.

    There is light at the end of the tunnel.

    But, we’re now at both a delicate and dangerous stage of this pandemic.

    If we rush to relax the measures in place, we would risk wasting all the sacrifices and all the progress we have made. And that would risk a quick return to another lockdown.

    With all the threat to life a second peak of the virus would bring, and all the economic damage a second lockdown would carry.

    So we need to be patient a while longer.

    So please please stay home, save lives and protect the NHS.

    So we can safely return to life as close to normal as possible, as soon as possible.

    It’s been an incredible national team effort.

    Now is not the moment to give the coronavirus a second chance. Let’s stick together, let’s see this through.

    And let’s defeat the coronavirus for good.

  • Emmanuel Macron – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Emmanuel Macron – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Below is the text of the statement made by Emmanuel Macron, the French President, on 13 April 2020.

    Frenchwomen, Frenchmen,

    My dear compatriots,

    We are living through difficult times.

    We are all feeling fear and distress right now, for our parents, and for ourselves, as we face this dreadful, invisible and unpredictable virus.

    Tiredness and weariness for some, mourning and sorrow for others.

    This period is even more difficult to deal with when there are several of you living in a cramped apartment, when you don’t have access to the means of communication necessary to learn, to have fun, to communicate. It’s even harder when there is tension, when there is violence in a family’s daily life and we are all aware of, in this period, the loneliness and sadness of our senior community.

    And yet, thanks to our efforts, we have improved every day. Our civil servants and health personnel, doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, ambulance-drivers, paramedics, our soldiers, our firefighters, and our pharmacists are our front line, and they have put all their energy into saving lives and caring for others. Their line held. French hospitals have been able to care for all those who came through their doors. These past days and weeks are, and will remain, a tribute to our caregivers working in hospitals and in the community.

    Within our second line, our farmers, teachers, truck drivers, delivery and warehouse workers, shop assistants, refuse collectors, security and cleaning staff, civil servants, journalists, social workers, mayors and local elected officials, and so many others I will have forgotten; helped by so many French people who have played their part. All have allowed life to continue.

    And each of you, in what I am calling our third line, each of you by your sense of civic duty, by respecting the rules of confinement, thanks also to the vigilance of our law enforcement officers, you have ensured that the epidemic is now beginning to stall.

    The results are in. Several regions have been spared. In recent days, the number of patients entering intensive care has gone down. Hope is returning.

    Tonight, I want to thank you very warmly, for your dedication and to express my gratitude.

    So, were we prepared for this crisis? Obviously not enough but we have faced the situation in France like everywhere else. We had to respond to the emergency, make difficult decisions on the basis of partial information, often changing, and we had to constantly adapt, because this virus was unknown and it still carries many mysteries to this day.

    Let’s be honest, the moment has revealed flaws, shortcomings. Like all the countries of the world, we have lacked gowns, gloves, hydro alcoholic gels. We were not able to distribute as many masks as we would have liked for our caregivers, for staff caring for our seniors, for nurses and home helpers.

    From the moment these problems were identified, we mobilised – government, local communities, manufacturers, associations – to produce and acquire the necessary equipment. But I fully appreciate that, when you’re at the front, it’s hard to hear that a global shortage is preventing deliveries.

    Orders are now placed. Above all, our French companies and our workers responded and, like in wartime, production has been set up: we reopened production lines and we requisitioned.

    Imagine, in three weeks, we will have multiplied by five the production of masks for our caregivers in France and we will have produced 10,000 more additional respirators on our soil. These respirators so precious in intensive care unit.

    Thanks to these efforts, we will be able to face the situation and we will continue to distribute more equipment.

    But like you, I saw failures, still too much slowness, useless procedures, and the weaknesses of our logistics. We will draw from this, in due course, when it comes to reorganising.

    Let us also be fair with our country, recent weeks have been marked by real successes: the doubling of the number of beds in intensive care, never achieved before, the unprecedented cooperation between the hospitals, private clinics and the city doctors, the transfer of patients, to the least affected regions but also to Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany and Austria – which I thank – the establishment of distance education, organisation of solidarity chains in our municipalities, the success of all those who have continued to commit to feeding us during these weeks , the repatriation of tens of thousands of French and European nationals from countries around the world and support for the French from abroad.

    Very often, things which seemed impossible for years, we were able to do in a few days. We have innovated, dared, taken action on the ground, and many solutions have been found. We will have to remember this because so many strengths remain for the future.

    My dear compatriots, if I wanted to address you this evening, after having consulted widely over the past few days, it is to tell you in full transparency what awaits us for the coming weeks and months.

    Hope is reborn, I told you, yes, but nothing is taken for granted. In the Grand Est as in Ile de France, hospital services are saturated. Everywhere, in France as in the overseas territories, the system is under tension and the epidemic is not yet under control.

    We must therefore continue our efforts and continue to apply the rules. The more they are respected, the more lives we will save.

    This is why the strictest confinement must still continue until Monday, May 11. It is, during this time, the only way to act effectively.

    This is the condition for slowing the spread of the virus even further, succeeding in finding places available in intensive care and allowing our carers to rebuild their strength. Monday, May 11 will only be possible if we continue to be civic, responsible, obey the rules and if the spread of the virus has actually continued to slow down.

    I fully appreciate the effort I ask of you, telling you this. During the next four weeks, the rules laid down by the government must continue to be respected. They are showing their effectiveness and should not be strengthened or reduced, but fully applied. I ask all of our elected officials, whose importance I recognise during this period, I ask all of our elected representatives, to help ensure that these rules are the same everywhere on our soil. Curfews have been decided where it is useful, but further restrictions should not be added during the day.

    For our daily life, we must continue when we go out to apply social distancing measures: to keep away and wash our hands. I also want to remind you that everyone who has a chronic illness or suffers from other illnesses must be able to continue to consult their doctor. Because it is not only the virus that kills: extreme loneliness, the cessation of other treatments can also be dangerous.

    I also hope that hospitals and retirement homes can allow visits, with the right protections, from loved ones to dying relatives, so that they can say goodbye.

    During this confinement phase, the country fortunately continues to live. Certain activities are prohibited because they are incompatible with sanitary rules. For all other economic sectors, when the security of workers and entrepreneurs is guaranteed, they must be able to produce and have largely done so, for a month now.

    For all those who must be helped during this period, the partial unemployment measures for employees and financing for companies will be extended and reinforced. They are unprecedented and already protect more than 8 million of our employees and many of our companies.

    For craftsmen, traders, the liberal professions and entrepreneurs, the solidarity funds are a first response but I understand your distress, I have heard it, I have read it: the charges that keep coming in, the bills, rents, loans – this is why I asked the Government to greatly increase the aid, to simplify it, so you can overcome this period. I hope that the banks can shift payment deadlines further than they have ever done and the insurance companies must also be a part of this economic mobilisation. I will follow it closely.

    There is work to be done in the coming days to support you economically during this period.

    A specific plan will be implemented quickly for the sectors which, like tourism, hotels, catering, culture and events, will be affected in the long-term. We will cancel charges and put in place specific aid.

    For the most fragile and needy, these are also difficult weeks. I want to thank the mayors, locally elected officials and associations who have quickly mobilised alongside the Government. I have asked them to go further and provide immediate exceptional assistance to families with children who have the lowest incomes so that they can meet their basic needs. Students in precarious situations – sometimes living far from their families – especially when they come from overseas, will also be helped.

    As of Wednesday, the Council of Ministers will decide on new financial measures and the government will provide all the necessary answers.

    May 11, my dear compatriots, will be the beginning of a new stage. It will be progressive, the rules may be adapted depending on results because the primary objective remains the health of all French people.

    From May 11, we will gradually reopen nurseries, schools, colleges and high schools.

    This is a priority for me because the current situation is deepening inequalities. Too many children, especially in working-class neighbourhoods and in our countryside, are deprived of schooling without having access to digital technology, and cannot be helped by their parents in the same way. During this period, housing inequalities and inequalities between families are even more pronounced. This is why our children must be able to get back to school. The Government, through consultation, will have to develop specific rules: managing time and space differently, protecting our teachers and our children, all with the necessary equipment.

    For students in higher education, classes will not resume physically until the summer. The Government will specify the organisational requirements, in particular, for assessments and competitive exams.

    11 May will also be when as many people as possible will be allowed to return to work and when our industry, our businesses and our services will be restarted. The Government will start preparing immediately for these reopenings with industrial partners so that rules can be established to protect employees at work. This is the priority.

    Public places, restaurants, cafes and hotels, cinemas, theatres, performance venues and museums, however, will remain closed at this stage. Major festivals and events with a large audience will not be able to take place at least until mid-July. The situation will be collectively assessed each week from mid-May in order to make adjustments and to give you visibility.

    For their protection, we will ask the most vulnerable people, the elderly, those with severe disabilities, people with chronic illnesses, to stay confined even after the 11 of May, at least initially. I know it is a major constraint. I appreciate what I am asking you to do and we will, between now and the 11 May, work to make this time more bearable for you. But you will have to try to stick to it to protect yourself, in your own interests.

    From 11 May we will have a new way of organising things in order to succeed in this step. The widest possible use of tests and detection is a favoured weapon for exiting confinement at the right time.

    Until then and in the next few weeks, we will continue to increase the number of tests done each day. This is what has been done for the past fifteen days. During the weeks to come, I have asked that these tests first be performed on our elderly, our caregivers and the most vulnerable. And we should continue to mobilise all means of carrying out these tests, everywhere, that is to say in all public and private labs.

    On May 11, we will be able to test anyone with symptoms. We are not going to test every Frenchwoman and Frenchman, that would make no sense. But anyone with symptoms should be able to get tested. People with the virus will then be quarantined, taken care of and followed by a doctor.

    To support this phase, we are working on several innovative projects with some of our European partners, including a digital application which, anonymously and only for volunteers, will allow people to know whether they have been in contact with someone carrying the virus or not. You’ve probably already heard about it.

    The Government will have to work on this possibility; we must not neglect any option, any innovation. But I hope that before May 11, our Assemblies can debate this subject, and that the competent authorities can enlighten us. This epidemic cannot weaken our democracy, neither can it diminish our freedom.

    Until further notice, our borders with non-European countries will remain closed.

    We will deploy all the necessary means to protect the population. In addition to the social distancing measures that you know well and that you will have to keep practising, from 11 May the State, from May 11, together with mayors, will have to allow each French person to obtain a mask for the general public. For the most exposed professions and in some situations, such as in public transport, its use may become systematic.

    This will be possible thanks to our imports and thanks to the tremendous mobilisation of entrepreneurs and employees all over France to massively produce this type of mask.

    The Government will present within fifteen days, on the basis of these principles, a post-11 May plan and the details of the organisation of our daily life.

    Regular meetings will be held so that we can adapt to the measures taken and decide together, on a regular basis, how to adjust things.

    So when can we expect this hardship to end ? When can we get back to the lives we used to have? I know your questions, I share them. They are legitimate. I wish I could tell you everything and answer each of your questions. But frankly, in all humility, we have no definitive answer to this.

    Today, according to the first data which will soon be refined by so-called serological tests, a very small minority of French people have contracted COVID-19. This means that we are far from what specialists call collective immunity, that is to say the moment when the virus stops its circulation by itself because enough of us have been infected.

    This is why the first way out of the epidemic is vaccination. The world’s best talents, and researchers are working on it. France is recognised in this area and has excellent resources, because it is undoubtedly the safest solution, even though it will take at least several months to implement it. Our country will invest even more massively in research and I will carry in the coming days an initiative with many of our partners on your behalf to accelerate the work in progress.

    The second path is treatment. We’ve been working on it from day one. I know there have been many debates in the country. All options are explored and our country is the one that has launched the most clinical trials in Europe. I myself wanted to understand each of the possible options, to make sure that everything was tried as soon as possible and rigorously. It is not a question of giving a treatment if one is not sure about it. It is about carrying out all the clinical trials so that all the options are tested. And believe it, our doctors, our researchers are working hard. No option is overlooked, no option will be overlooked. I commit myself to this.

    Tonight, I share with you what we know and what we don’t know. We will eventually prevail, but we will have several months to live with the virus. With humility, today we have to decide and act with lucidity. Yes, because look at Asia, where the virus seemed to have been defeated and it is coming back in many countries which consequently again, decide to shut their economies down. We must therefore proceed with calm and courage.

    But what I know, what I know right now, my dear compatriots, is that our Nation stands strong, united, with a common goal.

    It was said that we were people lacking discipline, and now we respect some of the most rigorous rules and disciplines ever imposed on our people in peacetime.

    It was said that we were an expended people, set in our ways, far from the passions of our foundations, and lo and behold, so many of you are acting with dedication and engagement in the face of this unexpected threat.

    We stand together, brothers and sisters, united, fellow citizens of a country. Citizens of a country which debates, which discusses, which continues to live its democratic life, but which remains united. And I want to share my pride with you this evening.

    This idea that made France what it is today remains, alive and creative. And that should fill us with hope.

    During the coming weeks, the Government, the Parliament, our administration, with our mayors and local elected representatives, will have to prepare the next steps. As far as I am concerned, I will try to use our voice to encourage a more united Europe. The first decisions went in the right direction and we pushed a lot for that, whether it was about the European Central Bank, the European Commission or governments.

    But we are at a moment of truth which requires more ambition, more daring, a moment of refoundation.

    We must help our neighbours in Africa to fight the virus more effectively, and to help them economically by massively cancelling their debts.

    Yes, we will never win alone.

    Because today, in Bergamo, Madrid, Brussels, London, Beijing, New York, Algiers or Dakar, we mourn the dead from the same virus. So if our world as it will undoubtedly, fragments, it is our responsibility to stand together and find new ways to cooperate. It will also be up to us, in the coming weeks, to prepare for the aftermath.

    We will have to rebuild our economy stronger in order to produce and give full hope to our employees, our entrepreneurs, and keep our financial independence.

    We will have to rebuild French agricultural, health, industrial and technological independence and more strategic autonomy for our Europe. This will require a massive plan for our health, our research, our seniors, among others.

    We will also have to remember that our country depends entirely today on women and men whom our economies recognise and pay so poorly. “Social distinctions can only be based on common utility”. These words, the French wrote them more than 200 years ago. Today we must take up the torch and give full force to this principle.

    We will have to build a strategy focused on long term, the possibility of planning, low carbon emission, prevention, resilience which alone can make it possible to face the crises to come.

    These few obvious statements are clear to us today, but they will not suffice. I will therefore come back to you to talk about the “after.” The moment we are living through is a personal and collective shock. We should live it as such. It reminds us that we are vulnerable, something we had probably forgotten. Let’s not try and use this moment to confirm immediately what we had always believed. No. We must, in this moment, think outside the box, outside ideologies and reinvent ourselves – including me.

    There is an opportunity in this crisis: to reconnect with each other and prove our humanity, to build a new project in harmony with each other. A French project, a common foundation for our lives together.

    In the coming weeks, with all the composing elements of our Nation, I will try and create a path which makes this possible.

    My dear compatriots, we will have better days. I believe that truly.

    And the virtues which, today, allow us to keep going, will be those which will help us to build the future, our solidarity, our confidence, our will.

    So take care of yourself, let’s take care of each other.

    We will hold firm.

    Long live the Republic.

    Long live France.