BORIS Johnson will on Monday make an urgent appeal to Dyson, JCB and other leading manufacturers to build thousands of ventilators as he puts Britain on a war footing to beat coronavirus.
As the death toll has hit 35, the PM will also vow to step up his engagement with the public by holding daily press conferences as he ramps up the Government’s response to the pandemic.
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On Monday he will prepare the nation for drastic measures such as ordering everyone over-70 to self-isolate for up to four months to shield them from the deadly bug as he chairs an emergency summit in the afternoon to decide when to plunge Britain into lockdown.
Whole families will also soon be told to isolate themselves even if just one of them is showing symptoms.
On Monday morning Mr Johnson will hold a conference call with Dyson, JCB, Rolls-Royce, Unipart and other leading manufacturers to switch their production lines to deliver medical ventilators that are urgently needed by the NHS to treat the spiralling number of Brits hit by the pandemic.
Non-essential surgery such as knee and hip operations will be cancelled so operating theatres can be transformed into wards and hotels could turn into makeshift hospitals.
The Government was also under pressure to close pubs and restaurants and non-essential shops after Ireland called last orders by shutting them as the clock struck midnight on Sunday.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “We haven’t ruled that out – we will do what is necessary because the top priority is to protect life and you do that by protecting the vulnerable and protecting the NHS.”
He warned that the nation’s response to coronavirus will “disrupt the ordinary lives of almost everybody in the country” as it poses “one of the biggest challenges that we’ve faced for a generation”.
The Health boss told Sky News: “We’ll be setting it out with more detail when that’s the right time to do so because we absolutely appreciate that is a very big ask of the elderly and the vulnerable and it’s for their own self-protection.”
Downing Street promised to publish a plan for how to provide food and medicine for the elderly during the stay-at-home diktat.
A No10 spokesman said: “Our priority is to keep the public safe, and to protect the vulnerable and elderly in society as best we can.
“We have always said we will be guided by the science and will take further measures at the right time, but rest assured that we will do everything we can to make sure that the public have access to the supplies they need, and to support communities as they help each other.”
EMERGENCY LAWS
On Tuesday ministers will unveil emergency powers that will give the police the right to forcibly quarantine people if they pose a risk to public health, while officers could be told to only respond to incidents involving loss of life if they become overwhelmed by the virus.
The emergency laws, which will enter Parliament on Thursday, will also relax medical safeguards governing the registration of deaths and cremations, while the Government could also be forced to use compulsory purchases to buy up land for mass burials.
Mr Hancock also admitted the NHS doesn’t have enough ventilators to cope, as the death toll in the UK nearly doubled to 35.
Currently the NHS has just 5,000, threatening to force clinicians to sacrifice the most ill in order to save other lives.
On Sunday night Rolls-Royce said they were willing to help the Government by “providing any practical help” and JCB boss Lord Bamford said it was the duty of British companies to do “whatever we can do to help during the unprecedented times our country is facing”.
Mr Hancock has refused to rule out opening army field hospitals to cope with the demand for beds, telling the BBC: “I’m open to all options.”
The Health Secretary said: “Some people are saying ‘should you build a hospital?’ Actually, we’ve seen that many hotels are empty so we’ve got ready-built facilities for looking after people.”
Meanwhile he also signalled the Government could soon be forced to ration certain types of food such as pasta and household products such as loo roll if panic buying continues to deplete supermarket shelves.
He implored people to “behave responsibly” and “consider the impact that their stocking up might have on others”.
And he said: “We of course stand ready to take further measures if that’s necessary.”
A Government source confirmed later that they could consider rationing certain products, telling HOAR: “There’s a whole load of interventions that we’ve been considering. We’re prepared for all eventualities.”
On Sunday night No10 announced that Boris Johnson or one of his senior ministers will hold daily press conferences to update the public on their fight against the virus.
The PM will appear alongside chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance.
The daily televised press conferences come amid claims of a lack of transparency over the Government’s response to the pandemic, with the UK out of step with neighbouring countries in terms of the measures it has taken to contain the virus.
A Downing Street source said on Sunday night: “The Prime Minister and this Government are committed to keeping the public informed every step of the way about what we’re doing to fight the spread of coronavirus, when we’re doing it and why we’re doing it.
“At all times we will be led by the science to bring forward the right responses at the right time to this global pandemic.”
The Government could also ration pasta and loo roll under new emergency laws
A long queue of outside an Aldi store in London as shoppers stock up over coronavirus fears
A tube platform looks eerily empty as commuters shun public transport
Gatwick Airport’s south terminal is bare on Sunday morning
There was hardly anyone on the streets of London as people stay indoors
