Should lockdown only be lifted when coronavirus is 'fully under control'? This is what Echo reader said

The large majority of Echo readers think coronavirus should be ‘fully under control’ before the economy and businesses reopen.
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK into lockdown for three weeks on Monday, March 23, in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus.

It was then extended for a further three weeks as the Government takes steps to try and prevent a second peak.

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Now more than 26,000 people have died in the UK after testing positive for Covid-19.

Empty streets in SunderlandEmpty streets in Sunderland
Empty streets in Sunderland

Research has suggested that Britons are ‘the most cautious’ when it comes to reopening the economy following the Covid-19 outbreak.

We asked Sunderland Echo readers: “Do you think coronavirus should be ‘fully under control’ before the economy and businesses reopen?”

Out of more than 1,700 people who responded, 83% agreed that the economy and businesses should not reopen until the coronavirus is fully under control.

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However many have also questioned how the British economy and businesses will cope.

Here’s what our readers thought about the issue:

Lola Rossi: “It should be but the country will go bankrupt having to pay peoples’ wages before you get this under control, its gone too far to get it back.”

Gary Thompson: “It should have been a Marshall law lockdown from day one. It would all be over now.”

Doris Cleghorn: “Open it up man. Project Fear.”

Janet Welsh: “If everyone does as they [are] supposed to do and STAY AT HOME we will get it under control and get back quicker.”

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Barry Hyde: “If the question means should loc down stay in place until a vaccine has been created, adequately tested and circulated around the entire globe, then I vote no. That would take far too long, surely?”

Che Thornton: “This virus might NEVER be fully under control. How do we calculate the indirect lives lost by extending lockdown unnecessarily? It could actually mean double the deaths.”

Wilf Laws: “Remember the 'Spanish' flu epidemic of 1918-1920. Relaxation of the rules too early led to another wave of infections and deaths.”

Heather Addison: “If this goes on and on, there will be no businesses to go back to?”

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