Coronavirus: Follow government advice and pandemic will end sooner, says health secretary
The health secretary has urged the public to follow government advice as it will allow life to return to normal sooner.
Matt Hancock said adhering to social distancing measures would prevent “difficult situations” such as those seen in Italy, where hospitals have become overwhelmed.
“The more people follow the public health advice, the quicker we will be through this and the quicker we will be back to normal,” he told Sky News.
“If people follow the advice, we’ll get through this quicker and we won’t have to enforce these draconian enforcements that we’ve seen in other places in Europe.”
He said that around 1.4m people in the UK who are classed as vulnerable would be contacted from Monday with specific action for them to take.
“The first thing we’re going to do is set out exactly what conditions that applies to,” he said.
“We expect about 1.4m people to then get a communication from the NHS to say that they are part of this and what they need to do.
“Many of these people have pre-existing health conditions and so will be very worried right now, and I understand that, and they’ll need very specific sets of action – for instance, how do you go about still getting your chemo if you have cancer whilst also social-distancing?
“If you have cancer it’s particularly important to stay away from other people, but you also of course have got to keep going with your chemotherapy.”
“These are some of the most difficult and challenging cases so we’ll be getting in contact with them, but if people think that they are on this list and don’t receive a communication from the NHS, then they also need to get in contact.
“So that is under way, the money was announced for it yesterday. A combination of money to the NHS and money to councils because they’ve got a very big part to play in keeping people safe.”
And on the 28 deaths recorded in the West Midlands, Hancock said there was “a hotspot” there, although not “as big as in London”.
“It’s something that we’re looking at very, very closely to find out why, frankly.
“I mean, the spread of a disease like this does tend to be in areas of hotspot and then broadening out from them.
“What we’ve got to do … is to respond as well as possible.”