PM insists NHS can cope with coronavirus but people must be “self-restraining”

Boris Johnson has insisted that the NHS is “well capable” of handling the pressures of the coronavirus, but says people will need to be “self-restraining” in their use of health services.

Speaking at a press conference this morning, the Prime Minister outlined the steps that the government and health services would take.

He revealed the government’s four-point plan to contain the coronavirus, delay its spread, research the origins and a cure and mitigate its impact.

Johnson said: “We will make sure the NHS gets all the support it needs to continue their brilliant response to the virus so far.”

Asked about the pressure that the NHS will be under, the Prime Minister insisted that the NHS is “well capable of handling the most tremendous pressures”.

But he added: “It will be very important for everybody to think not only what we can do to prevent the spread of the virus individually, but also what we can do to avoid too much pressure on the NHS… It will be quite important to be self-restraining.”

The Prime Minister said: “For the vast majority of the people of this country, we should be going about our business as usual.”

In a recent survey, 99% of 1,618 doctors questioned said that the NHS not well prepared to deal with a major outbreak of coronavirus.

There are particular concerns given the fact that that the NHS currently has 10,000 doctor and 43,000 nurse vacancies.

The action plan published today has warned that up to a sixth of the workforce in the country could be off sick during the peak of a coronavirus epidemic.

Labour leadership candidate Lisa Nandy has called for emergency legislation to ensure all those who need to self-isolate get sick pay from day one.

Asked about this today, Johnson said only that “we’re going to keep all options under review – we’re well aware of the issue”.

The Health Secretary Matt Hancock will be in the House of Commons to answer questions from MPs about the action plan tomorrow.