ladbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Boris Johnson Says Second Wave Of Coronavirus Is 'Coming'

Boris Johnson Says Second Wave Of Coronavirus Is 'Coming'

The Prime Minister has also stressed he does not want another lockdown

Will Fitzpatrick

Will Fitzpatrick

Another wave of coronavirus is 'inevitable', Boris Johnson has said.

The Prime Minister said he does not want to put the country in a second lockdown, but told Sky News: "There's no question we're now seeing a second wave coming in. We see it in France, we see it in Spain, across Europe.

"It's been absolutely, I'm afraid, inevitable we would see it in this country.

PA

"On Monday we brought in the measures that we did, the rule of six, to restrict what people are doing and to bring in a new buffer.

"But the crucial thing is to observe the basic rules on social distancing - hands, face, space - that's what everybody's got to do if we're going to continue to beat this thing."

He added: 'Clearly we are going to keep everything under review," later saying: "As the disease progresses of course we're going to have to take further measures."

The government is looking at the possibility of introducing nationwide restrictions for a short period, Sky News reports, in a bid to 'short-circuit' the virus and reduce the chances of it continuing to spread.

Sky News adds that government officials have stressed these potential restrictions are not anticipated to go as far as a full lockdown, as seen in the UK earlier this year.

PA

In the meantime, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called for Johnson to hold a COBRA meeting - the government's committees which respond to periods of national crisis.

"He now needs to take swift and decisive action at a national level to deal with this - he can't afford to be slow," Starmer said.

"If the prime minister was to take action, the Labour party will support it and do what we can."

This comes a day after World Health Organisation expert Anthony Costello backed down over claims that Chris Whitty, the UK's Chief Medical Officer, was pushing for the government to introduce a two-week national lockdown.

On Wednesday Costello tweeted: "I'm hearing from a well-connected person that government now thinks, in absence of testing, there are 38,000 infections per day. Chris Whitty is advising PM for a two week national lockdown."

However, on Thursday morning he retracted the comment in a follow-up tweet, which read: "I've been told by another insider I respect that Chris Whitty does not support a 2 week lockdown, so I'm pleased to correct the record."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: UK News, Coronavirus, Boris Johnson