Plan B measures to remain unchanged despite ‘weeks’ of NHS pressure ahead - Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson has said that the current Plan B measures in England will remain unchanged, despite forecasting that the NHS will be under “considerable” pressure over the next few weeks.

There has been growing concern over the situation in the NHS, after United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust declared a “critical incident” with “extreme and unprecedented” staff shortages resulting in “compromised care”.

The Prime Minister vowed to “make sure that we look after our NHS any way that we can” but warned that the pressure facing the health service could last for the next “couple of weeks, maybe more”.

Johnson said the booster programme and Plan B measures made a difference but added: “There are still quite a lot of people who have had two jabs, but haven’t had the third. The third jab really does make a big, big difference.”

It would be “absolute folly” to think the coronavirus pandemic was “all over”, he said during a visit to a vaccination hub at Stoke Mandeville Stadium in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

The PM said it was vital that people in England “stick with Plan B” and get their booster vaccinations.

There is concern among headteachers ahead of the return of schools, as they wait to learn how many staff will have available, as teachers take Covid tests before the start of term.

What did Boris Johnson say on Covid measures in England?

The Prime Minister said the current Plan B measures in England are the right ones to address the virus.

He added that all rules will be kept under review and urged people to “build up defences” by getting third doses of the jab, taking Covid tests “before meeting people you don’t usually meet” and working from home if possible.

He said: “I think the way forward for the country as a whole is to continue with the path that we’re on. We’ll keep everything under review.

“The mixture of things that we’re doing at the moment is, I think, the right one.

“So, number one, continue with Plan B, make sure that people take it seriously, do what we can to stop the spread, use the Plan B measures, work from home if you can, wear a mask on public transport… take a test before going out to meet people you don’t normally meet, think about the requirements under Plan B, but also get the boost.”

Asked whether he would consider cutting the isolation period after people test positive for coronavirus to five days, as has happened in some parts of America, the PM said: “We’ll continue to look at the infectivity periods, but the key thing is we don’t want to be releasing people back into the workplace when they’re still infectious.

“And the risk is you’d increase the numbers of people going back into the workplace who are infectious by a factor of three. So you might perversely have a negative effect on the workforce if you see what I mean, so that’s the argument we’re looking at.”