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tv   BBC News  BBC News  May 10, 2020 7:45pm-8:01pm BST

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let's have another look at the main measures that the prime minister half an hour or so ago. most of them apply to england only. the main points can be summed up as follows. the government is actively encouraging people to go back to work if they can, from tomorrow, but not to use public transport. that is step one of a 3—step plan. from wednesday in england, people will be allowed unlimited amounts of exercise or to sit in the local park or drive , but only with members of the same household. in step two, from june the ist, there will be a taste reopening of primary schools in england. initially reception, year one and year six. shops will also start to open. it's hoped that secondary school pupils taking exams next year will get some time with their teachers
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before the summer break. so that means the vast majority of secondary school pupils won't be back until september. in the third step, they say that byjuly at the earliest, some parts of the hospitality industry and other public places will open the prime minister said there would be some kind of quarantine, for everyone arriving into the uk by air , but there's no date on that yet. our health editor hugh pym is here. cani can i pick up on the word conditional, recognising that these problems we face are still very severe? it was a major achievement by the nhs across all parts of the uk to create this extra capacity, critical care bed capacity, to deal with a surge in coronavirus patients and the nhs has not been overwhelmed, hospital cases are falling. in terms of the number of deaths, the rolling average each day is falling but over the last week we have had three days with more than 600 newly reported deaths, a figure
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which certainly looks, tragically, very high. we have an issue repair homes, is the epidemic there really under control? —— an issue of care homes. the prime minister highlighted the provision of protective equipment., it is better but some representatives of doctors and nurses are saying it is not getting through in the right numbers. the other is the testing, tracking and tracing network to keep hold of any future spread of the virus. there are certainly ambitious plans but it is not yet fully in place. thank you very much, hugh pym, our health editor, with thoughts on what has been an add to keep hold of any future spread of the virus. there are certainly ambitious plans but it is not yet fully in place. thank you very much, hugh pym, our health editor, with thoughts
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as you've been hearing, the uk prime minister borisjohnson has been setting out the roadmap — for how to ease the lockdown in england. here he is speaking at downing street a short while ago. we have the r below one, between 0.5 and 0.9, but potentially onlyjust below one, and although we have made progress in satisfying at least some of the conditions i have given, we have by no means fulfilled all of them. and so, no, this is not the time simply to end the lockdown this week. instead, we are taking the first careful steps to modify our measures and the first step is a change of emphasis that we hope that people will act on, this week. we said that you should work from home,
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if you can, and only go to work if you must. we now need to stress that anyone who can't work from home, for insta nce anyone who can't work from home, for instance those in construction or manufacturing, should be actively encouraged to go to work, and we wa nt encouraged to go to work, and we want it to be safe for you to get to work, so you should avoid public transport, if at all possible, because we must and will maintain social distancing and capacity will therefore be limited so, work from home if you can, but you should go to work, if you can't work from home. and, to ensure that you are safe at work we have been working to establish new guidance for employers to make work —— workplaces covert secure, and that when you do go to work if possible do so by car, or even better by walking or bicycle. but just as with workplaces even better by walking or bicycle. butjust as with workplaces and public transport operators will also
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be operating covid secure standards. from this wednesday, we want to encourage people to take more and even unlimited amounts of outdoor exercise. you can sit in the sun in your local park. you can drive to other destinations. you can even play sports, only with members of your own household. you must obey the rules, one social distancing and, to enforce those rules, we will increase the fines for the small minority who break them. and so, every day, the ever—increasing data, we will be monitoring the r and the number of new infections and the progress we are making. and if we, asa progress we are making. and if we, as a nation, begin to fulfil the conditions i have set out, then, in the next few weeks and months, we may be able to go further. in step two of the earliest byjune the ist, after half term, we believe we may
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be in after half term, we believe we may beina after half term, we believe we may be in a position to begin the phased reopening of shops and to get primary pupils back into schools, in stages beginning with reception, year one, stages beginning with reception, yearone, and year stages beginning with reception, year one, and year six. stages beginning with reception, year one, and yearsix. ourambition is of secondary pupils facing exams next year that they will get some time with their teachers before the holidays. we will be setting out detailed guidance on how to make it work in schools and shops and on transport and step three, at the earliest byjuly and subject to all these conditions and further scientific advice, if and only if the numbers supported, we hope to reopen at least some of the hospitality industry and other public places provided they are safe, and enforce social distancing. throughout this period of the next two months, we will be driven, not
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by mere hope or economic necessity, but by the science, the data and public health and, i must stress again that all of this is conditional. it depends on a series of big ifs. it depends on all of us, the entire country to follow the advice, observe social distancing and to keep that r down. and, to prevent reinfection from abroad, i'm serving notice that it will soon be the time, with transmissions significantly lower, to impose quarantine on people coming into this country by air. i know that we can use this plan to get us through the next, and if we can't do it by those dates and if the alert level won't allow it, we will simply wait and go on until we have got it right. we will come back from this devilish illness. we will come back to health, and robust health, and
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although the uk will be changed by this experience i believe that we can be stronger and better than ever before, more resilient, more innovative, economically dynamic, but also more generous and more sharing. but, for now, we must stay alert, control the virus and save lives. boris johnson speaking a short while ago. well, the labour leader sir keir starmer has been reacting to the prime minister's announcement, saying it raises more questions than it answers. what the country wanted tonight was clarity and consensus, and i'm afraid we've got neither. this statement raises as many questions as answers. we see the prospect of england, scotland and wales pulling in different directions. it's a big gap here for the government to make up. what would be the principal questions you would ask the prime minister? well, the prime minister appears to be effectively telling millions of people to go back to work tomorrow, but we haven't got
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the guidelines and we don't how it's going to work with public transport. so there is a huge number of questions arising out of this. now there will be more detail tomorrow. the prime minister's making a statement and we will ask questions about that. but as i say, what the country wanted was clarity and consensus, and we haven't got either of those. is it not inevitable, and i understand the desire for clarity and everyone watching this will want clarity, but isn't it inevitable in this next stage that things are going to be more nuanced and more subtle? it isn't as blunt an approach as imposing a lockdown. look, i've always accepted there would be some conditions in this. i accept that that you can't answer everything now, but the main strap message needs to be clear. "stay alert" isn't clear — most people have been saying, "what does that mean?" so there's a very basic issue here about communications, but we are rushing into tomorrow by asking people to go back to work. that's millions of people tomorrow morning back at work without a clear plan for safety,
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without clear guidance as to how to get there without using public transport. to be clear, if you were prime minister, would you have stuck with the stay—at—home message? what i would have done is to try to build a consensus, and i said this to the prime minister over the last ten days or so. make sure, if possible, all the devolved administrations, the trade unions and community groups are on board, know exactly what's required of them and pull together. i accept that a plan had to be set out, but to lack that well, for reaction to the prime minister's speech, i'm joined by professor eyal winter, an economist at lancaster university, who is part of a team of behavioural experts who have been advising the uk government on how to ease lockdown restrictions. professor, the new slogan from boris johnson is stay alert. is that what you would want the? johnson is stay alert. is that what you would want the ?|j johnson is stay alert. is that what you would want the? i would say that stay alert is good but i would say,
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stay—at—home unless you are sure you can stay—at—home unless you are sure you ca n follow stay—at—home unless you are sure you can follow the rules. stay alert will not suffice. we have to make sure people follow the rules and that the rules are mandatory. there are no guidelines, no nudges, but things that people have to obey. the two things that i think are very much in line with what i suggested both to the british government and the israeli government. the first aspect is very good in thejohnson announcement, which is exactly what i suggested, it is that the announcement has to be a procedure, in terms of a schedule. notjust what doing tomorrow, what we're doing next week, the week next month and so forth. it has to be precise
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and so forth. it has to be precise and clear, because each of us has his or her own exit strategy. we have to prepare for our own exit strategy. sorry? i want have to prepare for our own exit strategy. sorry? iwant tojump in. you wrote an article making a comparison to traffic laws saying that they are in force with penalties and a need to be like that for everyone to obey those laws and you said the same should apply to pandemic rules, but the difference is surely that if i am driving i understand that if i break a red light at speed i could kill people, andi light at speed i could kill people, and i shouldn't. it is not as clear—cut as how we behave in a pandemic, exactly what we should do. let me give you an example of something that should be clear—cut. face mask. it is absolutely necessary. there was a royal society study invited by the government that
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says unambiguously, 0k, face masks save lives, 0k? they have to be mandatory. people say, i hear people say this is about human rights, but we don't have to go to the international human rights tribunal... nobody is asking to go through a tribunal on this. there is a divided medical opinion on this and there is one doctor, who i heard we will be speaking to you later suggest that for the public do not use face properly would be actually more dangerous than not to use them at all, so there is opinion on that. we will carry on on this. professor, how would you enforce pandemic rules ? how would you enforce pandemic rules? well, first of all, it is important to understand that by making rules mandatory, you are
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almost there. you don't need perfect enforcement for people to abide by the rules. it is enough that they understand that it is mandatory. the shame and the social pressure that come into force, very often, is enough to make people abide by these rules, when they are mandatory, but when they are voluntary, people will a lwa ys when they are voluntary, people will always find reasons not to obey them. it is easy to enforce traffic because cars have license plates, people walking in parts, it is difficult to enforce that unless there are enough police. that's right, so there needs to be more police on the streets. much of the regulation has to be made, or fulfilled by the businesses themselves. we haven't heard
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anything about what the businesses in the workplace have to make sure, in order to... in the workplace have to make sure, in order to. .. professor, we will do that. we are going to be speaking to business leaders and in unions and subsequent sections of the programme. professor, thank you so much forjoining us. thank you. this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the prime minister borisjohnson outlines his road map to lift the lockdown in england — in an address to the nation — but the fundamentals won't change. no. this is not the time simply to end the lock down this week. instead, we are taking the first careful steps to modify our measures. in england, those working in the construction industry and people who can't work from home are now encouraged to return to work from tomorrow, but maintain social distancing. there's a lifting of restrictions for outdoor
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activity from wednesday — as those living in england are told

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