Boris Johnson today warned the UK is not yet ‘out of the woods’ of the coronavirus crisis after official statistics showed England had the highest levels of excess mortality in Europe in the first half of 2020.
The Prime Minister said ‘we mourn every loss of life’ as he argued ‘we really owe it to them to continue our work in driving the virus down’.
He said now is not the time to ‘delude ourselves’ that the pandemic ‘is all over’ as he told the nation: ‘Don’t lose focus, don’t lose discipline.’
Mr Johnson’s comments came after Health Secretary Matt Hancock denied stoking up Covid-19 panic and hysteria after he warned a second wave was ‘starting to roll across Europe’.
Boris Johnson, pictured on a visit to North Yorkshire today, said the UK must not ‘delude ourselves’ that the coronavirus crisis is over
Data released by the Office for National Statistics showed England experienced the longest continuous period of excess deaths, as well as the highest levels, in a comparison of 23 European nations.
It is the first time the ONS has compared mortality rates in different countries to measure the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
By the week ending May 29, England had a relative cumulative age-standardised mortality rate of 7.55 per cent – meaning it was 7.55 per cent higher than the average mortality rate between 2015 and 2019.
Spain ranked second at 6.65 per cent, followed by Scotland (5.11 per cent), Belgium (3.89 per cent) and Wales (2.78 per cent).
England still had the highest cumulative excess deaths rate two weeks later, by the week ending June 12, though at this point there was only data available on 17 other countries to compare it with.
Responding to the figures, Mr Johnson said the nation ‘has had a massive success’ in reducing the number of deaths.
Asked during a visit to North Yorkshire if he was ashamed over the ONS analysis, he said: ‘We mourn every loss of life that we’ve had throughout the coronavirus epidemic.
‘What I would say to them (families of the deceased) is that we really owe it to them to continue our work in driving the virus down.
‘Clearly this country has had a massive success now in reducing the numbers of those tragic deaths.
‘We’ve got it at the moment under some measure of control. The numbers of deaths are well, well down.
‘But I have to tell you that we’re looking at a resurgence of the virus in some other European countries. You can see what’s been happening in the United States.’
Mr Johnson urged people to continue to stick to social distancing and hygiene rules in order to stop the spread of the disease.
He said: ‘Broadly speaking, the only way to control coronavirus is if everybody collectively obeys the social distancing rules and works together to drive the virus down.
‘So that’s why I make this point that I do – we’ve done a huge amount. Together we’ve really reduced the incidence of the virus and we’ve got the number of deaths down.
‘But it can come up again, and we’ve seen what is happening in other European countries, so what I’m saying to people is don’t lose focus, don’t lose discipline, continue to observe those guidelines and if you have symptoms, get a test.’
The PM said it would be a mistake for the UK to think that the coronavirus crisis is finished.
‘It’s absolutely vital as a country that we continue to keep our focus and our discipline and that we don’t delude ourselves that somehow we’re out of the woods or that this is all over, because it isn’t all over,’ he said.
The Government has faced accusations of over-reacting to coronavirus spikes in some European countries after it decided to reimpose quarantine rules on travel to Spain.
A number of other European nations like Belgium and Luxembourg could also soon be added to the non-safe travel list because of a rise in case numbers.
Mr Hancock today dismissed suggestions that the Government is fuelling ‘hysteria’ by ‘talking up’ the prospect of a second wave.
Mr Hancock told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: ‘No, I don’t think so. I do think that we have learned a lot from having gone through this peak once and we are absolutely determined to keep people safe.
‘We have learned both from the data, from the science, and also frankly from the experience of having gone through it and taking the extraordinary decisions that you have to take.
‘We are absolutely determined to protect this country and it saddens me that we are seeing these rises elsewhere but I will be vigilant and we will move fast if we need to because that is what the virus requires and the virus moves fast and so must we.’
He had earlier told Sky News: ‘I am worried about a second wave. I think you can see a second wave starting to roll across Europe and we’ve got to do everything we can to prevent it from reaching these shores and to tackle it.’