LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday people in some parts of the world had taken too many liberties with COVID-19 guidance and that young people should understand that they could spread the deadly virus.
“If you look at what is happening elsewhere in the world, where people have been coming out of lockdown, I’m afraid what you’re also seeing is people taking too many liberties with the guidance, mingling too much, not observing social distancing,” Johnson said. “You’ve got really serious spikes.”
“You may think that you’re not going to get it and you are immortal and invincible and so on, and very likely that’s true, particularly if you are a young person, but the bug you carry can kill elderly people particularly, it is still dangerous.”
“To win, to beat this thing, we have to stay alert.”
Asked if he would intervene after Intu Properties INTUP.L said it would go into administration, Johnson said: “There will be tough times ahead. And the retail sector, shopping malls, clearly have been feeling the squeeze on their business model for long time.
“We’ll do everything can to look after them and to make sure we get young people into work by every possible means,” he added.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Stephen Addison)
