Coronavirus: Boris Johnson forced to review and tighten his strategy

Correspondent in London

The British Prime Minister wanted to display calm and serenity in the face of the coronavirus threat, by avoiding " over-reactions ". But under the pressure of numerous scientific personalities and faced with the progression of the epidemic in the kingdom, he was forced to review his copy and toughen up the response.

The country - which will be added by Donald Trump to its list of suspension of entries into the United States - indeed crossed the threshold of a thousand people infected on Saturday, with 1,140 people tested positive on Saturday, against 798 the day before. The number of deaths has doubled to 21 (only people belonging to the "at risk" groups).

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Above all, many voices expect a wave of contamination with a few days of delay compared to what is feared in France. They also criticize Boris Johnson for his " lightness " and his slowness in dealing with the crisis, with a blatant lag of measures compared to the rest of Europe.

Having ruled out doing so in the short term, the British government should therefore launch more radical measures at the start of next week, which it has kept in its sleeve for the time being. These include the prohibition of mass gatherings, above 500 people a priori.

Read also: Coronavirus: countries are turning in on themselves to stem the pandemic

According to the Daily Telegraph , events like the Wimbledon tennis tournament, the Glastonbury music festival - both slated for June - or major horse races like the Royal Ascot could be canceled. A number of events, such as the Premier League football matches, the London Marathon and the May municipal elections, have already been suspended or postponed.

Emergency legislation to fight the epidemic will be introduced on Monday. According to the Times , the police will notably be allowed to detain infected people and the authorities will be able to stop "any vehicle, train, ship or plane" and close the ports if necessary. These laws will remain valid for two years, the ministers believing that the majority of the population will end up being contaminated. An unattractive arrangement will speed up burials and cremations.

Change under pressure

From the start, Boris Johnson prides himself on a “ science-based ” strategy, suggesting that that of other countries is not as rational. But this speech ended up irritating the scientific community itself. In a letter to The Times , several scientists - including the editor of the medical journal The Lancet - asked the government to " urgently publish the scientific evidence, data and models " on which it is based. Other commentators or politicians have accused Boris Johnson of " playing Russian roulette " with the virus and the health of the British.

Like France and Germany, but by expressing it more frankly, the British government hopes to promote the development of a "collective immunity" within the population which would mainly develop a mild form of the coronavirus. According to government scientific advisor Patrick Vallance, such a process could work if 60% of the population were reached.

Read also: France bets on "group immunity" to stop the coronavirus

But this strategy can be risky and does not exclude delaying the spread of the virus as much as possible, at the risk of seeing health services dangerously saturated. " We can talk about theory, but for now we are in a situation where we must act, " said the spokeswoman for the World Health Organization (WHO) on BBC airwaves on Saturday.

Boris Johnson had decided Thursday to go to "phase 2" of his plan which includes four. From the “ contain ” phase, the country has thus switched to the “ delay ” phase , so that the peak falls as close as possible to summer. But BoJo had refused to take measures of " social distancing " too quickly, like closing schools or banning gatherings. Under pressure, he is moving.