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Boris Johnson held a coronavirus briefing on Thursday afternoon following a surge in COVID-19 cases in England. During the briefing Boris Johnson insisted it was important to ensure the basics were being followed to prevent a second coronavirus wave. While taking questions, the Prime Minister confirmed the Government would still be attempting to get the country back to normal by Christmas. 

To do this, Mr Johnson suggested daily coronavirus testing could be implemented to ensure the country gets coronavirus under control. 

ITV’s Robert Peston questioned what these measures would be following the Government’s announcement that groups of more than 6 people would not be allowed due to the spike in cases.

Mr Peston said: “Today we have heard you announce very significant restrictions on our ability to socialise.

“Chris Whitty has just said these restrictions are not going to just go on for weeks, more probably months.

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“Is Christmas now effectively cancelled?

He said: “On the question of whether we are going to get things back to normal by Christmas, I am still hopeful.

“In many ways, we could be able to get some aspects of our lives back to normal by Christmas.

“You could do that through the moonshot of daily testing, everybody gets a test, a pregnancy styled test, a sort of rapid turn around test in the morning.

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“Then 15 minutes later you know whether you are infectious or not.”

Mr Johnson admitted that these tests may not be able to tell participants whether they are currently infected with the disease but just whether they can pass it on to others.

He added: “That gives you a sort of passport to mingle with everybody else who is similarily not infectious.

“You might be able to do that in theatres, cinemas, sporting venues and so on.

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“That is the opportunity and we are aiming and driving for that.”

He closed by saying: “We cannot be 100 percent sure that we can deliver that in its entirety.

“But what I do think we can do, if we can follow the guidelines strictly, what we can certainly do is get on with controlling this virus.

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