Boris Johnson admits Eat Out to Help Out may have spread coronavirus

BORIS Johnson has admitted that the government's Eat Out To Help Out scheme may have spread Covid-19.

The PM acknowledged that if the discount scheme had helped to spread coronavirus then that now needed to be counteracted with "discipline".

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The BBC's Andrew Marr today suggested during an interview with the PM that the government's Eat Out To Help Out scheme and encouragement for people to get back to work had helped spread the virus.

Mr Johnson said he took "full responsibility for everything that has happened since the pandemic began".

He said the Eat Out To Help Out scheme was "very important" to support the hospitality sector.

"Insofar as that scheme may have helped to spread the virus then obviously we need to counteract that with the discipline and the measures that we're proposing," he said.

The PM said the government was trying to strike a "balance"; throughout the pandemic between protecting the health of Brits while also limiting damage to the economy.

"We had to go into lockdown in March and April and that was effective in bringing the virus down," he said.

"I think it was right to reopen the economy.

"If we hadn't done that, if we hadn't got things moving again in the summer, we would be looking at many more hundreds of thousands of jobs lost, billions, tens, hundreds of billions more gone from the economy."

The Eat Out To Help Out scheme saw the government pay for 50 per cent of people's food and non-alcoholic drinks at pubs and restaurants on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays during August.

The popular scheme was introduced by chancellor Rishi Sunak to help boost the flagging hospitality sector and revive Britain's pubs and restaurants, which had been ravaged by lockdown.

Insofar as that scheme may have helped to spread the virus then obviously we need to counteract that with the discipline and the measures that we're proposing

Boris Johnson

Data from the Weekly Surveillance Report found that the hospitality sector had contributed to 5.18 per cent of Covid-19 cases recorded by Public Health England since pubs reopened in July.

According to the data, the food/restaurant setting sector was responsible for 5.18 per cent of cases for a period of 11 weeks.

Care homes had the highest rate of cases with 41.95 per cent.

Schools and universities contributed to 19.89 per cent of cases, while workplaces were 17.14 per cent.

The percentage of cases stemming from the hospitality industry reach a peak at the end of August and start of September, as the Eat Out To Help Out scheme came to an end.

The rate was 11.23 per cent in the week from August 21-28, and was 15.45 per cent between August 28 and September 4, according to the data.

Although many Londoners took advantage of the scheme, the South of England had a largely stable infection rate while the North West and North East are now at coronavirus breaking point.

Professor Chris Whitty said the two Northern regions had seen a “rapid increase” in infections - despite large swathes of both areas being under local lockdown.

The majority of areas in the South West and South East of England seeing infection rates below 23 cases per 100,000. 

London, meanwhile, hovers somewhere in the middle of the two with a case rate in the majority of boroughs between 52.79 and 100 cases per 100,000. 

The capital, once the epicentre of the pandemic in April, has seen its infection rate remain relatively stable through the summer months - but the city was recently added to the government's watchlist amid a rise in cases.

SCIENTIST'S WARNING

Professor Carl Heneghan, of the University of Oxford, said cases of coronavirus started rising after Brits ate more than 100 million meals on the Treasury's dime.

Professor Heneghan, who is the Director of Oxford University's Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, warned there was a sharp increase of cases right after the bank holiday weekend at the end of Rishi Sunak's meal deal.

Professor Heneghan told the Science & Technology Select Committee: "What we saw was, in the detectable cases, on September 2 was an increase in that number (of new infections).

"You go back to August 30, you had about 1,000 detected cases and that then went up to 2,600.

"It's interesting to note that was right around the bank holiday, and the Monday we we had Rishi's Eat Out (scheme).

"That was a huge success but that actually led, potentially, to some sense of increase in cases."

Professor Heneghan said a delay in getting results out over the long weekend could also have contributed to the massive leap in numbers.

Hospitality venues were given a massive helping hand by the scheme, with pubs and restaurants full to the brim with people.

But there are fears people not social distancing while taking advantage of the cheap food could have led to a rise in cases of coronavirus.

BUMPY ROAD TO CHRISTMAS

Mr Johnson also gave hope of finding a coronavirus vaccine in weeks but warned of a "bumpy Christmas and beyond".

Boris warned of a tough winter for us all but said the nation will be in a different place by spring.

And he hopes that scientific progress - including testing capacity and a potential vaccine - will help ease restrictions.

He said: "In the course of the next few weeks the scientific equation will change.

"We'll start to see progress on vaccines and testing that will allow us to change the way we do things."

The Prime Minister said he "appreciated the fatigue" Brits are facing under current restrictions, but warned the road ahead will continue to be bumpy.

He said: "This is going to be bumpy through to Christmas. It may even be bumpy beyond but this is the only way to do it."

The PM went on to preempt the situation next year, suggesting the nation will be better equipped to face the virus as the months go on.

He said the government were working "flat out" to try to make things easier for Brits by Christmas.

"It is still very possible that there are bumpy, bumpy days ahead," he said.

"It could be a very tough winter for all of us but by the spring, things will be radically different and we'll be in a different world.

"There are different treatments now available that weren't a few months ago and that's changed the equation."

It comes after cases in the UK soared by 12,872 yesterday, with the number of infections almost doubling the previous daily record of 7,143.

The huge jump was put down to a technical error that saw the delayed recording of some positive test results.

Covid deaths also went up by 49, bringing the overall toll in Britain to 42,317.