Boris Johnson says Covid deniers who claim pandemic is hoax 'need to grow up'
7 January 2021, 18:18 | Updated: 7 January 2021, 18:20
PM: The NHS is under pressure and we all have to do our bit
People claiming Covid is a hoax "need to grow up" according to Boris Johnson while the head of NHS England said it was 'demoralising nonsense'.
At a Downing Street briefing, the Prime Minister was asked about people who claim the pandemic is fake news and his reply was swift.
"People who stand outside hospitals and say Covid is a hoax, and this kind of thing, I really do think they need to grow up," the PM said.
He said while the NHS is under presser "we've all got to do out bit to protect it."
The Chief Executive of NHS England also angrily hit out at people who claim the pandemic is not real.
Sir Simon Stevens then said claims that hospitals are not under pressure from the rising coronavirus cases were a "lie".
He said false claims on social media were changing behaviour in a way that could kill people and an "insult" to staff working in critical care.
"There is nothing more demoralising than having that kind of nonsense spouted when it is most obviously untrue," he told a No 10 news conference.
