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Rishi Sunak signals 2-metre distancing rule could soon be reduced Johnson looking at 'margin for manoeuvre' on 2-metre rule in England
(about 1 hour later)
Chancellor says coronavirus measure will be reviewed as a way to help businesses PM says people should be able to shop with confidence as non-essential stores reopen
Rishi Sunak has indicated the government could soon reduce the 2-metre physical distancing rule as way to help businesses, with the chancellor saying ministers would “actively review” the measure in the coming weeks. The government has dropped its strongest hints yet that it could overrule the concerns of some scientific advisers and reduce the 2-metre physical distancing guidelines, with Boris Johnson saying there was now “more margin for manoeuvre” over coronavirus.
“It will be a comprehensive review. It will be conducted very soon,” Sunak told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show, while stressing that the benefits of a reduced distance on shops, restaurants and others would need to be gauged against the health impact. With many thousands of non-essential shops permitted to open on Monday, the prime minister visited the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre in east London to urge consumers to bring some life back to the slumping economy.
Pressure has been building on the government to reconsider the rule given the impact it has on the hospitality sector, and on shops, many of which are reopening on Monday, particularly after figures showing the UK economy shrank by 20.4% in April. Speaking after his chancellor, Rishi Sunak, had promised that the government would “actively review” the 2-metre rule, which many shops, restaurants and other outlets have warned would make their businesses unviable, Johnson said people should be able to “shop with confidence” amid reduced Covid-19 infection rates.
However, there are fears that reducing the limit to one metre could cause a resurgence in coronavirus infection rates, given the so-called R rate of infection is perilously close to one in several regions. “As we get the numbers down, so it becomes one in a thousand, one in 1,600, maybe fewer, your chances of being 2 metres, 1 metre or even a foot away from somebody who has the virus are obviously going down statistically, so you start to build some more margin for manoeuvre, and we’ll be looking at that,” he said.
Sunak told Marr that a possible health trade-off involving a smaller distance but greater use of masks in public places would be part of the review, and stressed it would be up to politicians to decide, based on scientific advice. Speaking earlier in the day, Sunak indicated the government could reduce the 2-metre rule in the near future, saying the measure was being urgently looked at.
“Ultimately it is for ministers,” he said. “We are the people who are elected to make decisions in this country. People should hold us responsible and accountable for making those decisions. I think that people are comforted and have confidence in those decisions if they know that we are taking advice from our scientists.” “It will be a comprehensive review. It will be conducted very soon,” Sunak told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show, while stressing that the economic benefits of a reduced distance would need to be gauged against the health impact.
In an earlier interview on Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday show, Sunak was asked if he wanted the 2-metre distance reduced. Pressure has been building on the government to reconsider the rule, given the implications it has for the hospitality sector and for shops, many of which are reopening on Monday, particularly after figures showing that the UK economy shrank by 20.4% in April.
“I can very much understand the positive impact it will have on business’s ability to open and thereby maintain the jobs that they have, and make sure all the people that work for them can come back to those jobs and remain employed, and that’s really important to me,” he said. “But at the same time, we must make sure that it’s safe to do so.” Some scientific advisers, including Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, have indicated they would be wary about changing the recommended distance with the so-called R rate of infection for coronavirus perilously close to one in several regions.
But Sunak indicated a change was possible: “Now that we have made good progress in suppressing the virus, we’re at a different stage of this epidemic than we were at the beginning and that enables us to take a fresh look at this. Sunak said a possible health trade-off involving a smaller distance but greater use of masks in public places would be part of the review, and stressed that it would be up to politicians to decide, based on scientific advice.
“Ultimately, it is for ministers,” he said. “We are the people who are elected to make decisions in this country. People should hold us responsible and accountable for making those decisions. I think that people are comforted and have confidence in those decisions if they know that we are taking advice from our scientists.”
In an earlier interview on Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Sunak acknowledged the pressure on businesses if the 2-metre distance remained, particularly when parts of the hospitality industry are allowed to reopen, a process that could begin early next month.
“I can very much understand the positive impact it will have on businesses’ ability to open and thereby maintain the jobs that they have, and make sure all the people that work for them can come back to those jobs and remain employed, and that’s really important to me,” he said. “But at the same time, we must make sure that it’s safe to do so.”
But Sunak indicated that a change was possible: “Now that we have made good progress in suppressing the virus, we’re at a different stage of this epidemic than we were at the beginning, and that enables us to take a fresh look at this.
“Obviously, many other countries around the world use a different rule and indeed, we’ve seen a couple of countries recently – I think Norway and Denmark, from memory – have moved from 2 metres to something less as well. But it’s important that we look at it comprehensively in the round and that’s what we will do urgently.”“Obviously, many other countries around the world use a different rule and indeed, we’ve seen a couple of countries recently – I think Norway and Denmark, from memory – have moved from 2 metres to something less as well. But it’s important that we look at it comprehensively in the round and that’s what we will do urgently.”
The bulk of shops, those selling non-essential goods, are able to reopen from Monday, and Sunak said he hoped people would return to them, boosting the economy. The reopening of more shops is a key moment in the government’s attempt to balance the potentially competing demands of restarting the economy and keeping infection rates down.
“We have always been an economy that is driven by consumption, driven by services and the numbers of people employed in these sectors are huge whether it’s in retail or in hospitality, there are millions and millions of people who work in these sectors,” he said. In video footage released by Downing Street, Johnson was shown meeting staff at the Westfield Stratford City who were preparing for more shops to reopen.
Addressing the GDP figures on the Marr show, Sunak said the figures meant the economic damage caused by Covid-19 was “starting to become more real”, stressing that there was only so much any government could do. “We don’t know what will happen exactly, whether the people will come in a flood or in a trickle,” he said. “I hope they will come in sensible numbers.” People should “stick to the basic public health rules”, such as observing distances of 2 metres, he added.
“There’s no way I can protect every single job and every single business through this. There is going to be hardship ahead,” he warned.