英国首相鲍里斯警告目前正处于新冠病毒暴发的最大风险时刻

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消息来源 每日电讯


英国首相鲍里斯·约翰逊27日重返工作岗位，他在康复后的首个工作日称，“英国目前正处于新冠病毒暴发的最大风险时刻”。他敦促英国民众不要对“社会疏离”封锁措施失去耐心。

当地时间4月12日，英国首相约翰逊出院休养。图为英国首相鲍里斯约翰逊在伦敦唐宁街10号发表演讲。

据英国广播公司报道，与病毒作过搏斗的约翰逊当日在唐宁街10号首相府门前，发表了重返工作岗位的首次讲话。约翰逊表示，英国目前还处于疫情暴发的“最大风险时刻”，虽然很想“让经济尽快恢复起来”，但不会过快放松封锁限制，进而“牺牲英国人民的利益”，使疫情出现二次高峰。

“我们现在正开始扭转局势，有迹象表明正在度过疫情高峰期。”约翰逊认为，英国疫情的第一阶段即将结束，“我们离成功很近了”。

为确保第一阶段结束，约翰逊重申了“解封”需要满足的五个条件：确保国民医疗服务体系（NHS）能够应对疫情；每日死亡率持续下降；感染新冠人数比例下降至可控制水平；对新冠病毒检测和个人防护用品的供应有足够自信并能满足未来需求；对任何防控政策调整，有足够自信不会导致第二次疫情高峰出现。

约翰逊表示，在这个过程中，将很难对如何、何时改变禁令做出判断。但他同时表明，“政府将在未来几天对此做出更多说明。”

约翰逊说，自己离开首相岗位时间超出自己的预计，为此深感抱歉。他在讲话中感谢外交大臣拉布代理首相职责，同时向关心其安危的全体英国民众表示感谢。

约翰逊于3月27日确诊新冠肺炎，居家隔离一周后，4月5日因症状持续住进医院，6日晚因病情恶化转入重症监护室接受治疗，4月12日出院后一直居家休养。

27日，英国新冠病毒感染确诊病例新增4，310例，累计确诊病例总数157，150例，新增死亡数360人，累计死亡总数21，092人。

[size=42.6667px]Boris Johnson warns against relaxing UK lockdown as he returns to work after battle with coronavirus[size=42.6667px]
[size=42.6667px]The first world leader known to have had coronavirus is now leading his nation's response to it, and in a speech outside 10 Downing Street, the British Prime Minister had a clear message: Don't give up on the lockdown yet.[size=42.6667px]In his first remarks after returning to work Monday, Johnson acknowledged that the restrictions were hard to bear and risked taking a heavy toll on the economy.[size=42.6667px]But he warned that the UK was at "the moment of maximum risk" and suggested restrictions would need to remain in place for the time being in to avoid a second peak of infection. The UK's lockdown measures are due to be reviewed again by May 7.[size=42.6667px]Johnson struck a characteristically upbeat tone in his address, drawing on his own brush with the virus to offer a message of hope to a country which has endured at least 20,000 deaths from the virus and where the government has faced heavy criticism for its early response.[size=42.6667px]
[size=42.6667px]"If this virus were a physical assailant, an unexpected and invisible mugger, which I can tell you from personal experience it is, then this is the moment when we are beginning to wrestle it to the floor," Johnson said.[size=42.6667px]Johnson returns to the helm at a pivotal moment. His government has faced criticism for its handling of the disease, particularly whether it took the virus seriously enough in the early stages of transmission in the UK; the availability of protective clothing for health workers; and the country's low rate of testing.[size=42.6667px]The role of Johnson's chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, has also been questioned. Downing Street admitted at the weekend that Cummings had taken part in meetings of the independent group of scientists that is advising the UK government on its response to coronavirus.[size=42.6667px]The former chief scientist, David King, said the participation of Cummings in the committee -- first reported by the Guardian on Friday -- was an "egregious abuse" of the process of impartial advice. Downing Street said his presence was "to understand better the scientific debates concerning this emergency and also to understand better the limits of how science and data can help government decisions."[size=42.6667px]Another theme of criticism has been the failure of the UK government to share its thinking with the country on how lockdown restrictions would be lifted. Johnson said such decisions would be taken with "the maximum possible transparency."[size=42.6667px]One of Britain's leading epidemiologists earlier warned the government that any lifting of the lockdown would have to be matched with other measures to prevent the spread of the virus.[size=42.6667px]Neil Ferguson, a professor of mathematical biology at Imperial College London, who sits on the UK government's scientific advisory committee, said if lockdown measures were maintained only for the elderly and other at-risk groups, there could be 100,000 deaths from coronavirus in the UK this year.[size=42.6667px]"So, if we want to move away from lockdown -- reopen schools, reopen workplaces, let people go shopping again -- we have to substitute other measures," he told the Unherd website.[size=42.6667px]
[size=42.6667px]Johnson spent several nights in intensive care earlier this month after his condition with coronavirus symptoms worsened. He thanked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab for deputizing for him during his illness. "I am sorry I have been away from my desk for much longer than I would have liked," Johnson said.[size=42.6667px]He will have little time to rest. His government has set an ambitious target to test 100,000 people a day by April 30. The Department of Health and Social Care said 29,058 tests were carried out on Saturday, although the government says the capacity is much higher.[size=42.6667px]"I know it is tough and I want to get this economy moving as fast as I can but I refuse to throw away all the effort and the sacrifice of the British people and to risk a second major outbreak and huge loss of life and the overwhelming of the NHS," he said.