Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirms new health controls at British airports as a push is made to assist the world's poorest countries
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that he is considering “travel corridors” to some destinations as the UK looks to shut out a second wave of potential infections from poorer countries.
Mr Johnson outlined three areas where the government would increasingly look at as ways to tackle the spread and control of the virus including obligating new arrivals from Covid-19 hotspots.
From Monday, there will be new health controls at airports amid fears that as the UK begins to bring the infection under control there is a danger, according to the Prime Minister, that a second wave could be triggered by those arriving from abroad.
A second major announcement was the ramping up of efforts to vaccinate 300 million children in some of the world’s poorest countries to save millions of lives as well as helping to “shore up” their health care systems to contain Covid-19.
But the primary move for now is getting everyone in the country to engage with test and trace which is still experiencing a lag in the number of those getting tested compared to the number of tests which are available.
Mr Johnson said: “Now that the rate of transmission in the UK has fallen significantly from its peak, we need to take steps to manage the flare-ups and stop the virus from re-emerging.
“I want to update you on the progress we’re making on three fronts to prevent a second wave of infections that could overwhelm the NHS.
“First setup NHS test and Trace in order to identify, contain and control the virus in the UK thereby reducing its spread, as we moved to the next stage of our fight against the virus will be able to replace national lockdown with individual isolation and local action where there are outbreaks.
“NHS test and it will be vital to controlling the spread of the virus, it is how we will be able to protect our friends and family from infection and protect our NHS and it does this by identifying someone who's been in close contact with someone who's tested positive asking them for 14 days in order to avoid unknowingly infecting others.
“The system clearly needs everyone to play their part so I want to stress again today, we need you to get a test if you have coronavirus symptoms of a high temperature, a continuous cough or loss of taste or smell there is plenty of capacity.
“So while we are going through all these efforts in the UK to control the virus, we must also ensure we don't reimport the virus from abroad.
“So now that we are bringing the virus under control in the UK there is a risk that cases from abroad may begin, once again, to make-up a greater proportion of overall cases.
“We therefore need to take steps to manage that risk of these imported cases triggering a second peak. So just as we're asking people already in the UK to isolate for 14 days when contacted by NHS test and trace, we are also asking those arriving from abroad so that they don’t spread the virus
“There will be some exemptions for a limited number of people who need to cross the border, such as those directly involved in the fight against coronavirus or those who provide essential services working.
“We will review how the policy is working after three weeks, of course, and we will explore the possibility of international travel corridors with countries that have low rates of infection but only when the evidence shows that it is safe to do so.
“The third point I want to make today is we need effective national action to reduce the impact of the virus across the globe and this the moment for humanity to unite in the fight against the disease.
“Health experts have warned that if coronavirus is left to spread in developing countries that could lead to future ways of infection coming back and reaching the UK.
“While our NHS has been there for everyone who has needed it, there are many developing countries which are ill-prepared to manage this pandemic.
“So to ensure that the world’s poorest countries have the support that they need to slow the spread of virus, tomorrow I will open the Global Vaccine Summit hosted by the UK.
“Leading figures like Bill Gates to raise at least $7.4 billion for Gavi, the vaccine alliance, over the next five years with the UK’s support as Gavi’s biggest donor this vaccine alliance aims to immunize a further 300 million children in the poorest countries against deadly diseases like polio, typhoid and measles, again saving millions of lives.
“This support for routine immunisations will shore up poorer countries’ healthcare systems to deal with coronavirus and so help to stop the global spread and prevent a second wave of the virus reaching the UK.”
