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Coronavirus: Lifting lockdown requires balanced judgement - Gove Coronavirus: Lifting lockdown requires balanced judgement - Gove
(32 minutes later)
The government will make a "balanced judgement" when deciding how to relax the coronavirus lockdown, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has said.The government will make a "balanced judgement" when deciding how to relax the coronavirus lockdown, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has said.
The government does not yet have the information to show it would be safe to lift the restrictions, he told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.The government does not yet have the information to show it would be safe to lift the restrictions, he told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.
It comes after a Sunday Times report said schools could reopen as early as 11 May as part of an exit plan.It comes after a Sunday Times report said schools could reopen as early as 11 May as part of an exit plan.
Mr Gove dismissed that as "not true", saying no decision had been made.Mr Gove dismissed that as "not true", saying no decision had been made.
He also added that hospitality venues would be among the last to have restrictions lifted.He also added that hospitality venues would be among the last to have restrictions lifted.
The UK's lockdown was extended on Thursday for another three weeks.The UK's lockdown was extended on Thursday for another three weeks.
Strict limits on daily life - such as requiring people to stay at home, shutting many businesses and preventing gatherings of more than two people - were first introduced on 23 March, as the government tried to limit the spread of coronavirus.Strict limits on daily life - such as requiring people to stay at home, shutting many businesses and preventing gatherings of more than two people - were first introduced on 23 March, as the government tried to limit the spread of coronavirus.
The latest figures for the UK show 15,464 people have died in hospitals.The latest figures for the UK show 15,464 people have died in hospitals.
Calls for the government to provide an exit plan to end the lockdown have intensified, and some other countries have begun to relax their measures.Calls for the government to provide an exit plan to end the lockdown have intensified, and some other countries have begun to relax their measures.
Mr Gove said the UK government was taking "a deliberately cautious and measured approach guided by the science".Mr Gove said the UK government was taking "a deliberately cautious and measured approach guided by the science".
He said: "When we have the information, when we have the data that allows us confidently to relax those restrictions we will do so, but that data, that information, is not yet in place."He said: "When we have the information, when we have the data that allows us confidently to relax those restrictions we will do so, but that data, that information, is not yet in place."
He also said that while the government was investing in trying to get a vaccine as "quickly as possible" it could not be certain when it would be ready.He also said that while the government was investing in trying to get a vaccine as "quickly as possible" it could not be certain when it would be ready.
"I don't think it's the case that anybody should automatically assume that a vaccine is a dead cert to come soon.""I don't think it's the case that anybody should automatically assume that a vaccine is a dead cert to come soon."
Prof Sarah Gilbert, who is leading a team developing a vaccine at Oxford University, told the BBC's Andrew Marr that they hoped to start clinical trials towards the end of next week but nobody could be sure it was possible "to find a workable vaccine".Prof Sarah Gilbert, who is leading a team developing a vaccine at Oxford University, told the BBC's Andrew Marr that they hoped to start clinical trials towards the end of next week but nobody could be sure it was possible "to find a workable vaccine".
She said they would need government support to accelerate manufacturing because the UK currently does not have the facilities to make the vaccine on a large scale.She said they would need government support to accelerate manufacturing because the UK currently does not have the facilities to make the vaccine on a large scale.
As the trials progress, she said more people would be vaccinated - including the older population - to look at the safety and immune response of the vaccine.As the trials progress, she said more people would be vaccinated - including the older population - to look at the safety and immune response of the vaccine.
"That's important because it's the older population that we really need to protect with the vaccine. But with vaccines in general, you get not-so-good immune responses as the immune system ages.""That's important because it's the older population that we really need to protect with the vaccine. But with vaccines in general, you get not-so-good immune responses as the immune system ages."
She added that other coronaviruses have shown scientists that immunity is not usually very long-lived, but there was a difference between immunity acquired after natural infection and immunity acquired after vaccination.She added that other coronaviruses have shown scientists that immunity is not usually very long-lived, but there was a difference between immunity acquired after natural infection and immunity acquired after vaccination.
"We could find the vaccine-induced immunity lasts a lot longer than infection-induced immunity," she said."We could find the vaccine-induced immunity lasts a lot longer than infection-induced immunity," she said.
Mr Gove was also asked about a wide-ranging report in the Sunday Times which criticised the government's response to the outbreak.
The report said Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is currently recovering from Covid-19, had missed five meetings of the Cobra emergency committee in the run-up to the outbreak.
Mr Gove said: "He didn't (attend) but then he wouldn't - because most Cobra meetings don't have the prime minister attending them."
He added that it was "grotesque" to portray Mr Johnson "as though not caring about this".
The report also said the government ignored calls to order more personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare staff, as well as sending some stock to China.
Mr Gove said the UK had sent protective clothing to help China deal with its outbreak, but said Beijing had generously given far more back.
'All governments make mistakes'
The UK is due to receive 84 tonnes of PPE for medics and care home workers from Turkey on Sunday. That follows warnings from the healthcare sector that stock was at a "critical" level.
However, on Saturday, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick did not dispute the suggestion that the 400,000 gowns in the shipment would only last NHS England around three days.
Asked whether the government would own up to any errors it had made, Mr Gove said: "All governments make mistakes, including our own. We seek to learn and to improve every day.
"It is the case, I'm sure, at some point in the future, that there will be an opportunity for us to look back, to reflect and to learn some profound lessons."
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said there were "serious questions about the government's immediate response to this pandemic and whether they were too slow to act".
"We knew in February how serious this virus was. Yet today our NHS and care staff are still lacking adequate PPE," he added.