Doing all we can and as quickly we can, to increase the capacity of the NHS
Boris Johnson says the UK “must stop the disease spreading to a point where it overwhelms our NHS”.
He says coronavirus is “so dangerous and so infectious that without drastic measures to check its progress it would overwhelm any health system in the world”.
Johnson said we need to act like a wartime government to do what it takes to support the nation’s economy.
“I stress although the measures are extreme we may well have to go further and faster.”
Sunak promises £330bn of government-back loans and guarantees
Chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak, says the coronavirus is “a public health emergency but also an economic emergency”.
He promises government intervention “on a scale unimaginable only a few weeks ago”.
The chancellor has also committed £1bn to support vulnerable people through the welfare system and hardship funds for local councils.
But he plans to increase that further, with the announcement that mortgage lenders will provide three-month mortgage holidays for those that need them.
The chancellor has also promised fully non-pay-back grants for businesses based on their rate-able value, saying that nobody will be penalised for doing the right thing, with £10,000 cash grants for smaller firms.
The chief science officer Sir Patrick Vallance, has said: “Vaccines are the answer to this and it is remarkable the progress that has been made.”
In recent years, he claims it could have taken 20 years to create a vaccine but things are moving much faster.
“I think we will be lucky to get one for mass use in a year, but there is progress.”
More to come soon…
