Jeremy Hunt says the fastest route back to normal life is mass testing as the government warned it could take up to six months for things to return to normality.
The former health secretary said the UK should be following the example of countries such as South Korea, Singapore and Germany to end the coronavirus lockdown faster.
“The restaurants are open in South Korea,” he wrote in The Sunday Telegraph.
“You can go shopping in Taiwan. Offices are open in Singapore.
“These countries learned the hard way how to deal with a pandemic after the deadly SARS virus. They now show us how we can emerge from lockdown.”
South Korea and Germany
South Korea was the second hardest-hit country after China but with widespread testing managed to dramatically slow its infection rate, recording just 105 new cases on Sunday and fewer than ten deaths every day.
Mr Hunt also used Germany as an example as it has carried out four times as many tests as the UK and recorded only 342 deaths from the virus – fewer than half that of the UK.
Yesterday Michael Gove warned the coronavirus lockdown will be in place for a “significant period” and could last longer if people do not stick to the rules.
UK death toll
His warning came on Sunday as the death toll in UK hospitals reached 1,228, a rise of 209.
Mr Gove acknowledged the scale of the “sacrifice” the public is taking but said he could not make “an accurate prediction” on how long it must be endured.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster’s warning came after Boris Johnson wrote to every household with a warning he could impose stricter measures.
Related: First Covid-19 death of frontline NHS hospital worker confirmed
Since you are here
Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.
Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.
Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.
If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.
To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.
The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.
The shop can be found here.
You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .
