Boris Johnson Hopes To 'Turn Tide' Of Coronavirus Within 12 Weeks

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he hopes to 'turn the tide' of coronavirus within 12 weeks.

During his daily coronavirus briefing, Johnson said: "I am absolutely confident we can turn the tide within the next 12 weeks."

He added that he believes we can 'send the virus packing'.

There was no mention during Johnson's speech about a rumoured lockdown, but the Prime Minister did say he wouldn't rule out 'tougher measures' if people didn't follow the existing advice, which has encouraged people to social distance themselves where possible.

Johnson said: "We're absolutely emphatic about people avoiding social gatherings, and if we do need to more around that, we will."

Specifically referring to potential stricter measures in London, Johnson said he wants to 'stress that we do want to see people following advice we have given in the capital, where the disease seems to have been making fastest progress'.

The Government 'may have to consider going further', he said, but there is currently 'no prospect' of bringing public transport in London to a halt.

While Johnson said he was confident that we will be able to 'beat' the outbreak, he stressed that this would only happen if people worked together to take such precautionary steps.

BBC

On the subject of testing and treatments, he added: "We have put first British corona patient into a randomised trial for drugs that might treat the virus.

"We are in negotiations today to buy a so-called antibody test to tell you if you have had the disease.

"It is early days. If it works as its proponents claim, we will buy hundreds of thousands of these kits.

"Because this has the potential to be a total game changer."

Today the UK death toll rose to 137, with 2,692 cases.

As the number of fatalities and cases continue to rise, many people are hoping life will return to normal as soon as possible, but know that realistically this may be a long way off yet.

Johnson said he cannot say that by the end of June we will be on a downward slope - but this will be 'finite', he added.

Topics: uk news, News, coronavirus

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman