Boris Johnson 'set to urge nation to return to work'
16 July 2020, 10:35
Boris Johnson is set to tell the nation to return to work in offices from next month.
At a press conference scheduled for tomorrow, Mr Johnson is expected to set out a ‘road map’ for the coming months, changing the current guidance which states that people who can work from home should continue to do so.
The current guidance also says public transport should only be used for essential journeys. It is expected that this will be changed as well.
Mr Johnson has already said that he wants the guidance to change, saying that people should return to work if they can do so safely.
Yesterday it was reported that the civil service is drawing up health and safety plans to get staff back to offices.
Chief medical officer professor Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance are to attend a meeting of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) on Thursday where the matter will be discussed.
It comes after official figures showed that 650,000 UK jobs had been lost due to the coronavirus crisis, including 74,000 last month.
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The ONS data showed London was the hardest-hit part of the country in terms of job losses.
A new messaging campaign is due to be announced, according to the Sun, in which the public will be told to use public transport outside of peak rush hour times, while using buses and trains at rush hour will remain for "essential travel only".
A Government source told the newspaper: "The key message to the public is that we now have the virus under control, and where there are local outbreaks we can act quickly to stop the virus spreading.
"It is safe to open up the economy in a much bigger way.
"The public will be told that it is fine to go back to work, shops, and eat out in restaurants, pubs and cafes, as long as they socially distance and wear a mask if needed.
"Test and Trace is capable of putting out local fires."
