Coronavirus left Boris Johnson "haunted" knowing he will "define" his legacy

Boris Johnson has been left "haunted" by the rapidly worsening coronavirus epidemic across the UK as he realizes that the decisions he will now make will define his mandate, according to insiders.

The Prime Minister has been criticized for advocating a less urgent approach to closing outlets and banning large-scale events than European countries.

Today, the number of deaths in the UK has increased to 35, or 14 in one day, while the number of cases has risen to 1,391.

The Prime Minister is said to have stressed to those around him the need to be seen as acting, following accusations of "convenience" last week.

They did not appreciate it very much, a colleague of the Prime Minister and his team said Sunday Times . They look haunted. They know that his entire position as prime minister will be defined by the decisions they make.

Last week, Mr. Johnson delivered a surprisingly sober message to the public, saying that he had to "complain" to people that "many more loved ones would die" from the coronavirus.

They fear that a second wave of infections this winter could lead to even more deaths, and are therefore impatient to take action as public opinion demands that more action be taken in the near future. fears of a fallout to the Italian.

According to a government source, this includes banning mass gatherings – secretly viewed by policymakers as a "marginal" decision: "Stopping mass gatherings may not be very helpful but it has very few drawbacks ".

The Premier League and the EFL suspended all football until April last week, while other high-level sporting events were suppressed, but this went against official advice from the government, which was to allow them to continue facing similar measures taken on the continent.

Another source told the Sunday Times: "Some people seem to mistakenly think that we can stop it. This ship has sailed around the world. What we need to do is to mitigate and protect the most people possible. "

An anonymous Conservative MP said Prime Minister was concerned about the potential backlash if Covid-19 claimed more British lives than lives abroad, while another noted: "The problem is that it is the Conservative voters who will die. "

Earlier, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that people over the age of 70 will be asked to isolate themselves for up to four months to protect them from the virus.

Asked if this timeline was in the government's plan, he told Sky & # 39; s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: "It is in the action plan, yes, and we will go into it in more detail. when the time is right to do so, because we absolutely appreciate that it is a very high demand from the elderly and the vulnerable, and that it is for their own self-protection. "

Insisting on when the measure will be introduced, he said: "Definitely in the next few weeks, absolutely."

Mr. Hancock added: "The actions we are taking, the actions we plan to take, are very, very important and will disrupt the ordinary lives of almost everyone in the country in order to fight this virus."

He also confirmed that the ministers were seeking to give the police the power to arrest and forcibly quarantine people with the virus but who are not isolating themselves.

"We will take the powers to make sure that we can quarantine people if they pose a risk to public health, yes, and that is important," he told The Andrew Marr Show at the BBC.

"I doubt we will actually have to use it a lot, because people have been very responsible."

It was reported tonight that the British were at risk of being arrested for refusing to isolate themselves or for 1,000 fines.