LONDON (UK) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday that the country would be through the pandemic-triggered crisis by mid-2021, adding that he feared there could be a second wave that could overwhelm health service.
“Whether it came from… a bat, a pangolin or however it emerged, it was a very, very nasty thing for the human race. And I think by the middle of next year we will be well on the way past it,” he said in a briefing.
“This country is going to bounce back stronger than ever before,” the prime minister said. “We’ve still got the threat of a second spike.”
While visiting a doctor, the prime minister said he hoped people would vet a flu shot to ease the pressure on the health sector during winter.
“There’s all these anti-vaxxers now,” Johnson told medical workers. “They are nuts, they are nuts.”
Opposition parties blame the prime minister for failing to identify care homes as vulnerable during the outbreak of the pandemic and for the botched test-and-trace system. He also came under fire for failing to sack his aide Dominic Cummings for flouting lockdown rules.
Johnson said his experience was that the government needs “to move faster and be more responsive to the needs of the people.”
He said people could not get their passports of birth certificates in time and cases were piling in courts.
“Sometimes government can be slow,” Johnson said while introspecting on his year in power. “We are learning the whole time.”
The prime minister also said that there would be proposals to fund social care so that people will not run the risk of having to sell their homes to fund care.
Asked how long would people have to sport face coverings, he said he would rely on the common sense of Britons.
Johnson, who has raised concerns about the rising obesity levels among his countrymen, said people should shed weight.
“I’m not normally a believer in nannying, bossing politics but the reality is that obesity is one of the comorbidity factors,” Johnson said. “I’ve lost about a stone and a bit, primarily by eating less but also by a lot of exercise.”
Asked why he never apologised, Johnson quipped: “I am sorry if I don’t apologise.”
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field