UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that the UK is “past the peak and on the downward slope” of the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking during the Coronavirus press conference from Downing Street on Thursday, Mr Johnson thanked the public for their efforts so far during the outbreak. Thursday was the first time Mr Johnson had presented the daily press conference since March, due to him suffering from a severe case of the virus.
Mr Johnson said that next week he would be explaining a plan to get the economy moving and to get people safely back to work and school.
The Prime Minister also added that face coverings may be useful as part of a lockdown exit strategy. Mr Johnson said;
“As part of coming out of the lockdown, I do think face coverings will be useful,”
“Both for epidemiological reasons but, also, for giving people confidence that they can go back to work.”
Face coverings have already been recommended in Scotland, while some countries have made the wearing of face masks mandatory in some settings, such as on public transport.
An increasing number of tests have been completed each day for COVID-19 and on Thursday, Mr Johnson revealed that 81,611 tests were carried out on Wednesday. The government has a target of completing 100,000 tests a day by Friday.
According to the latest figures from all UK settings, 26,771 people have died from the Coronavirus.
Photo Credit: Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street under licence (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
