UK coronavirus outbreak shows early signs of slowing but restrictions may last six months

London CNN — The UK could remain under coronavirus emergency measures for as long as six months, a top health official has said, even as one expert said there were early signs that the outbreak was slowing in Britain. Curbs on normal life may need to continue through the summer and into the autumn in order to avoid progress being “wasted,” England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jenny Harries said on Sunday. Those tests are “in the final stages of validation right now,” Ferguson said, suggesting they could be available in “days rather than weeks.” They would detect whether someone has previously had the Covid-19 virus – a development Johnson previously called a “gamechanger” – and the UK has ordered millions. GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images Harries said a review would take place after three weeks of the measures, but predicted authorities would need “two or three months to see whether we have really squashed it, but about three to six months ideally.” Johnson wrote in a letter to be delivered to millions of British homes that “things will get worse before they get better.” And Harries agreed with the warning, adding: “We actually anticipate that our numbers will get worse over the next week, possibly two, and then we are looking to see whether we have managed to push that curve and we start to see a decline,” she said. Harries added that a lengthy extension of emergency measures would not necessarily mean the UK “would be in complete lockdown for six months … it means that as a nation we have to be really really responsible and keep doing what we’re doing until we’re sure that we can gradually start lifting various interventions.” Even an extension of social distancing rules, however, would force Britons to remain in their homes throughout the summer months and mean major sporting events such as the Premier League would either need to be postponed further or continue without spectators.