Boris Johnson has urged people to stay away from their elderly mothers on Mother’s Day as the prime minister urged 1.5m vulnerable people with health issues to self-isolate for at least three months.
In a message to the nation on Saturday night, Mr Johnson warned that the UK was only “two or three” weeks behind Italy in terms of the accelerating number of Covid-19 patients.
“The Italians have a superb healthcare system. And yet their doctors and nurses have been completely overwhelmed by the demand. The Italian death toll is already in the thousands and climbing,” he said.
“Unless we act together, unless we make the heroic and collective national effort to slow the spread — then it is all too likely that our own NHS will be similarly overwhelmed.”
The government said up to 1.5m people with underlying health issues in England alone — who face the highest risk of being hospitalised by the virus — should stay at home to “shield” themselves. “Do not leave your house for at least 12 weeks starting on Monday,” it said.
People with specific underlying health conditions, including some being treated for cancer, will be contacted by the NHS this week.
Mr Johnson, meanwhile, urged people not to visit their aged mothers this weekend. On Friday, asked if he intended to visit his mother on Mothering Sunday, he replied “I hope to get to see her”. Aides subsequently clarified that he wanted to talk to her via Skype.
All over-70s in the UK have already been advised to avoid unnecessary social contact as the number of people afflicted by Covid-19 continues to rise.
“I know that everyone’s strongest instinct is to go and see their mothers in person, to have a meal together, to show them how much you love them,” he said.
“But I am afraid that this Mothering Sunday the single best present that we can give — we who owe our mothers so much — is to spare them the risk of catching a very dangerous disease. The sad news is that means staying away.”
The list of 1.5m includes people either taking medication or receiving treatment or have health conditions which puts them at greater risk of developing serious complications if they get the virus.
This includes those who have received organ transplants, are living with severe respiratory conditions such as cystic fibrosis and severe chronic bronchitis (COPD) or specific cancers like of the blood or bone marrow.
People identified as belonging to one or more of the at-risk groups will be contacted by their GP practice, specialist or both strongly advising them to stay at home for a period of at least 12 weeks.
They will all receive a letter this week and then frequent text messages providing reassurance and advice, the government said on Saturday night.
Paul Johnstone, director at Public Health England, said it was “vitally important” that those receiving the letter acted on it and did not go out for any shopping, travel or leisure.
“Those of us who are less at risk can play our part in protecting other people by following the government’s advice on social distancing and volunteering to give extra support to vulnerable people who are staying at home,” he said.
The list of those considered extremely vulnerable include organ transplant recipients, people with specific cancers, people undergoing active chemotherapy, those with severe asthma or cystic fibrosis or those having immunotherapy.
The government will also set up a helpline and make provisions to deliver basic groceries and medicines to those most at risk from the virus — who are now stuck at home — through a new “Local Support System”. That will involve the government working with councils, the groceries industry, emergency partners and voluntary groups to ensure that essential items can start to be delivered.
The efforts will also be supervised by a handful of military logistics experts who are already helping “Local Resilience Forums” in various regions.
“This will be an especially worrying time for those with serious underlying health conditions and that is why we are urgently acting to ensure extremely vulnerable individuals are taking extra steps to shield themselves, and that the essential items they need are supplied to them,” said Robert Jenrick, communities secretary.
“We will ensure that vulnerable and older people in our society are left in no doubt of their importance to us and our determination to protect them as best we can.”
This article has been amended to clarify that vulnerable people should not leave their house from Monday
