Yahoo News Coronavirus: Moves to relax lockdown are 'some way off', says health minister
A health minister has warned moves to relax the coronavirus lockdown are “some way off”.
Lord Bethell said people should not “fool” themselves into thinking the epidemic is over.
He was responding to calls for an exit plan as the House of Lords held its first virtual question time on Tuesday.
Lord Bethell was pressed by Labour peer Lord Foulkes, communicating via video-link, to set out a plan for lifting the lockdown in stages “just as is being done in other countries”.
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Lord Bethell, who is parliamentary under secretary of state for innovation at the Department of Health, responded: “We cannot fool ourselves into thinking that the epidemic is over and we have to be clear with the public and level with them that any changes in the guidelines are some way off.
“They will be presented to the public when our understanding of the medium-term strategy is clear.”
It prompted Labour frontbencher Baroness Thornton to say: “The government is still treating the British public like they are children.
“I am sure it would be possible to share thinking even at this stage.”
The government announced a three-week extension to its lockdown on Thursday, having originally imposed it on 23 March.
Dominic Raab, the first minister standing in for Boris Johnson, said the lockdown will only be lifted once five conditions have been met. “The worst thing we could do right now is ease up too soon,” he said.
