UK Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has said the current wave of the pandemic may not peak until September, but he still backed ‘freedom day’ which is due to begin on Monday.
It comes as Sajid Javid has contracted Covid but the PM and Sunak will not have to self isloate.
In response Jolyon Maugham tweeted: “I guess Johnson’s political calculation was, better to undermine messaging around public heath than to suffer the political awkwardness of having to self-isolate on “Freedom Day”.
And followed up with: “In other words, his embarrassment is more important than your health.”
Jenrick told Sky News’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday programme: “Cases are still rising, hospitalisations are increasing and we won’t really expect this wave of the virus to peak until late August, maybe even early September.
“There are going to be some quite challenging weeks ahead.
However, Jenrick defended the decision to go ahead with lockdown lifting in England on Monday.
He said: “We will all need to exercise good judgement.
“We are moving from that time when the state told you what to do, things were mandated as a matter of law, to one which had to come at some point where we trusted people, we trusted businesses and organisations, and gave them the information they needed to make good judgments.”
Jenrick then went onto the Andrew Marr Show and defended the PM and Chancellor who will not have to self isolate even though Sajid Javid has tested positive for Covid.
Prof Neil Ferguson also appeared on the show today and made some grim predictions about how many cases we are likely to see from tomorrow as ‘freedom day’ begins
He said: “100,000 cases a day is almost inevitable… & almost certain that we’ll get 1000 hospitalisations per day.” He also said you would need. crystal ball but it could be much higher even double that figure, that will put huge strain on the NHS.
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