Any hope that the return to work of Boris Johnson, the UK’s Prime Minister, would precipitate greater urgency in lifting the lockdown that has been in place for the past five weeks quickly evaporated during the course of his first public speech on 27 April.

This amounted to little more than a reiteration of the five tests that emerged during Mr Johnson’s Covid-19-related absence from office. These must be passed before any relaxation of the lockdown action can be contemplated let alone actioned.