Downing Street needs to accelerate planning for exiting the coronavirus lockdown because contact tracing, testing and social distancing will be needed “indefinitely” until a vaccine is discovered, Prof Neil Ferguson, one of the leading epidemiologists advising the government, has said. As ministers prepare to extend the lockdown for three weeks, attention is turning to what happens when it might be possible to ease the restrictions. Matt Hancock, the health secretary, expressed extreme frustration about being asked to explain the government’s exit strategy in broadcast interviews on Wednesday, saying: “Everybody wants to know what the future looks like. I don’t have a deep insight about what’s going on in government, but decisions need to be accelerated. We need to put in place an infrastructure, a command and control structure, a novel organisation.

Source: The Guardian April 16, 2020 08:40 UTC