The government has been surprised that people have complied with the lockdown to the extent that they have. Data on new cases and hospital admissions offers tentative evidence that it is suppressing the coronavirus hard enough to allow the NHS to cope with the peak. That peak can reasonably be expected to arrive soon and so, naturally, attention is turning to when it is safe to ease the lockdown, get back to work and try to save the economy. The need for clarity was underlined by the alarming economic figures published by the Office for Budget Responsibility this week. A projected fall of up to 35 per cent in GDP by June will soon add its own legacy to the problem of the virus.

Source: The Times April 15, 2020 22:52 UTC