Coronavirus: Lockdown Could Last Longer Than Three Weeks

England's deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries has announced that whilst the lockdown will be 'reviewed' in two weeks time, it is likely that social distancing measures could be maintained for some time. The Deputy Chief Medical Officer says the next two to three weeks are especially important because there is a lag between infections being confirmed and fatalities. There is also a delay in the impact that lockdown measures have. Dr Harries said: "We need to wait for two to three weeks to see what we have achieved, and then the slope of that curve will begin to indicate where a new peak will be." Dr Harries was asked whether lockdown measures will be in place for longer than three weeks. She says: "The PM said he would review in three weeks. It would be foolish of us to start something one day and assume it's going to have an impact the next. "Those measures have been in place solidly for a week or two. We need a couple of weeks to see that through." Dr Harries says that it could be six months or longer before the country gets back to normal from the pandemic, with reviews of lockdown measures every three weeks. The Deputy Chief Medical Officer says she is not saying there will be a complete lockdown for six months - however, the nation needs to be really responsible and continue to comply with the measures until we are sure that these restrictions can be gradually lifted. "That may mean we have a few bumps on the way," she says. "We will not have succeeded until we get right to the end of this outbreak." Meanwhile, the Housing and Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick says all parts of the country - including the Isle of Wight "are now on an emergency footing" - describing it as "an unprecedented step in peacetime". As of 9am today, 127,737 people have been tested for the virus - 108,215 have tested negative. 19,522 have tested positive. Of those who have contracted the virus, 1,228 have sadly died. The Housing and Communities Secretary said: "We are establishing strategic co-ordination centres across the whole country. Each centre is led by gold commanders. We're bringing together senior members of the emergency services - the police, the fire service, the ambulance service - with local authorities and the NHS to lead communities through this challenging period." There has also been news on Personal Protective Equipment for frontline health staff. The Secretary says that Jenrick says: "170 million masks, 42.8 million gloves, 13.7 million aprons, 182,000 gowns, almost 10 million items of cleaning equipment and 2.3 million pairs of eye protectors have been delivered to 58,000 NHS trust and healthcare settings including GP surgeries and pharmacies." Nationally there have been 2,433 new cases, which means there are now 19,552 confirmed cases. There have been 10 confirmed cases on the Isle of Wight. Overall 1,228 have now died in the UK, that's a rise of 209 people since yesterday It comes as the Isle of Wight NHS Trust registered its first two deaths yesterday, as reported by Isle of Wight Radio.