Free Republic

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for coronavirus and is self-isolating in Downing Street. He said he had experienced mild symptoms over the past 24 hours, including a temperature and cough, but would continue to lead the government. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he had also tested positive while England's Chief Medical Officer, Prof Chris Whitty, has shown symptoms.

British scientist Neil Ferguson ignited the world’s drastic response to the novel Wuhan coronavirus when he published the bombshell report predicting 2.2 million Americans and more than half a million Brits would be killed. After both the U.S. and U.K. governments effectively shut down their citizens and economies, Ferguson is walking back his doomsday scenarios. Ferguson’s report from Imperial College, which White House and other officials took seriously, said that if the U.S. and U.K. did not shut down for 18 months, and isolation measures were not taken, “we would expect a peak in mortality (daily deaths) to occur after approximately 3...

It comes as the Royal Navy has been preparing to help the NHS and other government departments deal with the coronavirus outbreak. Nine Royal Navy vessels have shadowed seven Russian warships after detecting "unusually high levels of activity" in the Channel and North Sea. It comes as the Royal Navy has been preparing to help the NHS and other government departments deal with the coronavirus crisis.

Priti Patel has called for UK borders to be closed to stop people arriving from coronavirus hotspots. The Home Secretary is seeking support for her plans to stop passengers being able to fly in to the UK from countries with high levels of infections such as Iran, the US and China. Mrs. Patel believes flights from virus hotspots should not be allowed when the country is on lockdown to prevent its spread, The Daily Telegraph reported. The lack of a travel ban in the UK is in stark contrast to policies in the EU and the US, which have closed...

Speaking during the government’s daily press coronavirus conference, Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised the public for having responded to the call for volunteers made by health secretary Matt Hancock on Tuesday afternoon so enthusiastically. Revealing the 405,000 volunteers meant there were already as many people giving up their time to help the NHS deal with the surge in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic as the entire population of the city of Coventry, the PM outlined the types of duties those involved could expect.

Steven Dick, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Budapest, has died after contracting coronavirus, the Foreign Office said on Wednesday. The 37-year-old diplomat died in Hungary on Tuesday, it said in a statement. He had served as Deputy British Ambassador to Hungary since December, according to a biography published on the UK government’s website.

A 21-YEAR-OLD woman with no underlying health concerns has died from coronavirus, her family said. Chloe Middleton is believed to be the UK’s youngest victim with no existing medical issues. Her family said it should act as a wake-up call for people to take the Covid-19 pandemic seriously. Mum Diane Middleton wrote on Facebook: “To all the people out there who think it's just a virus please think again. “Speaking from a personal experience this so-called virus has taken the life of my 21-year-old daughter.” The family, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, called on people to stay indoors to halt the...

This would be fantastic news if true, although I’m having trouble squaring the observed reality here and in the UK with the thesis.Remember this study, from Britain’s Imperial College? That’s the one that convinced Boris Johnson to abandon his plan to ask older people to stay home while letting younger, healthier people essentially go about their business and infect each other. Johnson’s hope was that, because younger adults are better able to weather infection without hospitalization, Britain’s health-care system wouldn’t be overtaxed as they got sick. Then, once more than half of the healthy population had been infected and...

Brits are drinking almost double the amount of booze at home, as they join their friends in virtual pubs online for a pint after venues were forced to close their doors yesterday. With home-drinking almost doubling to 100 million pints a week in the UK, millions are expected to join the virtual phenomenon, knocking back pints in front of their phones’ video-conferencing apps as their friends do the same. Jokers even gave their cyber-pubs — run on apps such as Zoom — names including The Stay Inn, Isolate Inn and The Quarant Inn. Britain’s top psychologist Sir Cary Cooper backed...

Angry locals in towns and villages all over the UK have put up signs demanding that second home owners leave and return to their city properties amid the coronavirus outbreak. Londoners and people living in big cities all over the UK are flocking to the seaside and their second homes to escape the virus, drawing the ire of locals. Now, furious locals in St Ives, Cornwall have scrawled messages on the beach demanding second home owners leave. An even more furious sign has appeared in Bala, north Wales, which says 'Go home rats'. It come as the government urged people...

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered places of worship to shut and prohibited baptisms and weddings, in a series of dramatic measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Johnson announced that, from Monday evening, people must stay at home except for shopping for basic necessities, one piece of daily exercise, medical needs and travelling to and from “essential” work. All social events in Britain are prohibited, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but funerals will be allowed. Shops selling non-essential goods, such as clothes and electronics, will also be shut, with only food shops and pharmacies allowed to...

Despite the government advising Londoners to avoid unesessary social contact, an East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre spokesperson confirmed today that it is open to the public. The holy call to prayer will continue to fill the halls of London’s busiest mosque this morning, as it has done since it opened in 1985. On a normal day, some 10,000 worshipers from all over East London attend the Whitechapel site across five daily prayers.

French authorities impounded two lorries carrying some 130,000 masks to health workers in Britain’s embattled hospitals, following President Emmanuel Macron’s pledge to “requisition” all stocks in his territory. The move followed hot on the heels of French border guards seizing another heavy goods vehicle carrying hand sanitiser to Britain the day before. The incidents triggered a diplomatic spat between the two countries as Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) struggles against the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.

Britain is to close its borders to unskilled workers and those who can’t speak English as part of a fundamental overhaul of immigration laws that will end the era of cheap EU labour in factories, warehouses, hotels and restaurants. Unveiling its Australian-style points system on Wednesday, the government will say it is grasping a unique opportunity to take “full control” of British borders “for the first time in decades” and eliminate the “distortion” caused by EU freedom of movement. .... A 10-page briefing document outlining the new immigration policy states: • UK borders will be closed to non-skilled workers –...

Health authorities in China are reporting no new infections in the central city of Wuhan where the COVID-19 epidemic first emerged, but local residents said they fear there could be a resurgence of new cases amid an ongoing official cover-up. "No new infections of the novel coronavirus were reported on Wednesday in Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic, marking a notable first in the city's months long battle with the virus and sending a message of hope to a world grappling with the pandemic," China Radio International reported on its website. More than 10,000 people have now died in the...

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told cafes, pubs, restaurants, gyms and cinemas across the country to close and stay shut indefinitely to help slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. "We are telling cafes, bars and restaurants to close tonight as soon as they reasonably can and not to open tomorrow," Mr Johnson told reporters in Downing Street. "I do accept that what we're doing is extraordinary. We're taking away the ancient, inalienable right of free-born people of the United Kingdom to go to the pub, and I can understand how people feel about that. "Though to be clear,...

Industry sceptical after Number 10 asks for more than 20,000 British-made devices in two weeks Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour. https://www.ft.com/content/7ebb238c-67c7-11ea-a3c9-1fe6fedcca75 The government is scrambling to piece together a design for a British-made medical ventilator “from scratch” to help treat severe coronavirus cases in...

Today Johnson asked industry to switch production to ventalators.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced nationwide lockdown measures late Friday as British health authorities registered a spike in Wuhan Coronavirus deaths. UK’s National Health Service (NHS) reported 40 Coronavirus related deaths on Friday, the biggest single day jump yet, taking the overall death toll to 177. The government has ordered the closure of all restaurants, pubs, gyms and other leisure activities across the country, UK media reports said. “Tens of thousands of bars, restaurants, cafes and gyms across the UK have remained closed this morning as the government battles to control the spread of Coronavirus,” UK newspaper The Independent reported...

Dame Vera Lynn has used her 103rd birthday to call on the British public to find "moments of joy" during these "hard times". The London-born singer marked the special occasion with a new video for her wartime classic We'll Meet Again.