Inside Politics – Coronavirus special: Boris Johnson hails returning NHS staff

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Monday 30 March 2020 07:56 BST

Dr Jenny Harries says "probably over the next six months" social distancing measures will be adjusted

The global economy may be in hibernation, but business is booming for some. There has been huge spike in demand for gardening tools, vegetable seeds, and video-conferencing apps. Boris Johnson doesn’t really have the time to plant a cabbage patch in the Downing Street garden, despite recovering at home after contracting the virus. The PM continues to lead the government response via video on his laptop – as he praises thousands of former NHS staff for returning to the frontline. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing during the coronavirus crisis.

Inside the bubble

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick what to look out for today:

Cabinet Office secretary Michael Gove will speak to the European Commission’s vice-president Maros Sefcovic by video conference to discuss how the withdrawal agreement will be implemented – with both the UK’s chief negotiator and his EU counterpart Michael Barnier still recovering from the coronavirus. The Bank of England releases its latest money and credit report, which should give us a better idea of the scale of the economic slowdown.

Daily briefing

FORWARD THINKING: Boris Johnson has revealed 20,000 former NHS staff have returned to work. He also used his latest online video to take down one of Margaret Thatcher’s most famous claims. “One thing I think the coronavirus crisis has already proved is that there really is such a thing as society,” the PM said. There is some really good news for the health service this morning. Mercedes F1 – working with University College London engineers – have developed a breathing aid for getting oxygen to the lungs without the need for ventilators. If trials are successful, up to 1,000 of the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) devices could be made a day. Michael Gove said on Sunday that it was better to “look forwards” than back, but promised he would “investigate” the UK missing out on an offer of 25,000 life-saving ventilators. And as concerns continue to be raised about low rates of Covid-19 testing, Labour’s Rosena Allin-Khan said it wasn’t “fair” senior politicians had been tested while many NHS staff had not.

SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER? Johnson appears au fait with video technology, but he’s also sent an old-fashioned letter out to every UK household warning us “things will get worse before they get better”. The deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries made clear that was the case at the latest Downing Street press conference. She said it would be six months or even longer before Britain “can get back to normal”, telling us to brace ourselves for at least partial lockdown measures until September. Dr Harries said we would know by Easter if the current restrictions have succeeded in “squashing” the peak of the outbreak. Doing his LBC show at home, Nigel Farage admitted he was having some trouble following the once-a-day advice on exercise outdoors. “I am going to be honest with you, in the last five days I have been out walking eight times,” he said. Elsewhere, a new Deltapoll survey shows 78 per cent think Johnson is handling the crisis well – despite 63 per cent saying restrictions were brought in too late.

HELP THE HUNGRY: Communities secretary Robert Jenrick said around 50,000 food parcels will be sent out to some of the most vulnerable people being “shielded” from the virus at home this week. Jenrick called on those without any assistance to register for help on the government’s website. However, with food banks struggling with a fall in volunteers and donations, concerns the pandemic could leave the poorest in society without enough to eat remain. That’s why The Independent has launched a new campaign to help the hungry across Britain – aimed at build a directory of ways our readers can food aid charities in their area. The chancellor Rishi Sunak, meanwhile, is thought to be working on a rescue package for some of the hardest-hit charities. Voluntary groups “will not want to shut down their services at exactly the time those services are potentially needed,” a Treasury source told The Sunday Times.

LEGIONS IN LOCKDOWN: Australia has decided it’s time to introduce full lockdown measures. All gatherings outdoors are now limited to two people (or the number in a household), and the government is expected to unveil a package to pay businesses A$1,500 (around £740) per fortnight to keep on staff. In Russia, Moscow authorities have ordered a citywide lockdown, just three days after the Kremlin insisted there was “de facto no epidemic” in the country. The Argentinian government is extending a nationwide lockdown period until the middle of April, but Brazil’s government appears less enthusiastic about locally-enforced lockdown measures across the country. President Jair Bolsonaro has had a tweet removed for violating Twitter’s public health rules. The clip showed him talking enthusiastically to a meat seller at a market, who said: “We have to work … There are deaths, but that is up to God, we cannot stop.”

CHANGING HIS TUNE: Donald Trump, who has been so keen to open again by Easter, said his administration’s own emergency social distancing measures will be extended until at least 30 April. The US president said that if the final US death toll amounts to 100,000 or less, “we all will have done a very good job”. In Trump’s latest, frequently bad-tempered press conference – during which he repeatedly clashed with reporters reminding him of previous statements – he said he took the decision to extend restrictions after he heard that “2.2 million people could have died if we didn’t go through with all of this”. Meanwhile, in New York City, mayor Bill de Blasio said his city would run out of ventilators and other critical medical supplies by 5 April. “Here in New York City, it feels like a wartime environment,” he said. The total number of deaths from coronavirus in New York State has surpassed 1,000, according to the Associated Press.

ALL APOLOGIES: India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has said sorry for his “harsh” 21-day coronavirus lockdown, as thousands of migrant labourers were forced to walk hundreds of miles to return home after transport was shut. “I apologise for taking these harsh steps that have caused difficulties in your lives, especially the poor people,” said Modi. Photos shared on news and social media networks showed police in Kerala striking people out on the streets with batons, while video clips have showed officers elsewhere doling out strange punishments – such as ordering some to frog-hop home. Japan, meanwhile, has extended a travel ban on tourists from the US, most of Europe, south-east Asia and China. Despite hopes the country was getting back to normal, prime minister Shinzo Abe told the public to “brace for a prolonged battle against coronavirus”.

On the record

“It’s important for me to level with you – we know things will get worse before they get better.”

Boris Johnson prepares Britain for the tough weeks ahead in a letter to the public.

From the Twitterati

“President Trump is a ratings hit. Since reviving the daily White House briefing Mr. Trump and his coronavirus updates have attracted an average audience of 8.5 million on cable news, roughly the viewership of the season finale of ‘The Bachelor.’ Numbers are continuing to rise.”

Donald Trump, amazed by his ratings, quotes The New York Times…

“Your loved ones might be dead or dying, but my ratings are through the roof!!!”

…leaving actor Morgan Freeman amazed.