Boris Johnson is a lot more cautious than Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, and Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, who the Times report:
- suggested at a meeting last week that once the peak of the virus had passed and the transmission rate had lowered. the government should "run things quite hot' and ease restrictions.
Johnson, though:
- told colleagues that he is very cautious about easing lock-down restrictions
- his "over-riding concern" is avoiding a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic
- raised conceits that lifting restrictions too soon could result in a "second peak' and bring another lockdown
- with a significant cost to health and the economy.
The above from a piece in Monday's Times newspaper.
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Some background (re the economy):
Office for Budget Responsibility modelled a 35% hit to GDP in Q2
- assumed a V-shaped recovery in 2021
UK Treasury modelling, on the other hand, is not so sanguine:
- officials caution of a "narrow U" or and even worse "W" the event of a second lockdown
- could permananetly impact economy'
- recovery could take years
