Coronavirus: Boris Johnson’s father says he'll ignore UK PM’s advice and head down to the pub if he ‘needs’ to
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's own father, Stanley Johnson, has ignored the leader's advice on social distancing amid coronavirus concerns by saying that he may go to the pub tonight. Stanley, who is 79 years old and is among the most vulnerable age groups susceptible to COVID-19, during an appearance on 'This Morning', said that he would go to the pub if he has to.
The hosts of the show, Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, were discussing the Prime Minister's advice for the public to avoid pubs, restaurants and theaters in an effort to curb the spread of the virus. However, when they asked Stanley whether he would go to the pub, he responded by saying: "Yes, of course, I'll go to the pub if I need to go to a pub."
When Schofield asked him what his son would think of that, Stanley said: "No, he told people should avoid going to pubs but if I had to go to a pub I'd go to a pub."
The statement from Boris' father came a day after the leader announced an advisory, asking people to stop socializing, work from home, avoid traveling, and that the whole household should remain in isolation if one person in a family becomes sick with coronavirus.
Leading scientists, on Monday, said that people in the UK may need to make drastic lifestyle changes for at least 18 months or more before the coronavirus spread dies down. The Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team predicted that 260,000 people could have died if the Government hadn't tightened its rules over the weekend, the Daily Mail reported. The team said that now the fatalities could be limited to fewer than 20,000 if people listen to the government orders and maintain social distancing to slow the spread.
A report by the team said that British officials only realized the danger posed by the virus "in the last few days" after they watched the situation in Italy go out of control and overwhelm hospitals. More than 2,200 people have died in Italy because of the novel coronavirus and over 28,000 have been infected. Experts, however, believe that the exact toll is possibly higher than what has been reported.
Meanwhile, the United States has also ramped up its isolation directives, with multiple states closing their restaurants, bars, and gyms in an attempt to curb the spread of the deadly virus which had claimed nearly 100 lives in the country and infected 4,700 people.