Good morning.
I am sorry I have been away from my desk for much longer than I would have liked, and I want to thank everybody who has stepped up, in particular the First Secretary of State Dominic Raab who has done a terrific job.
But once again I want to thank you, the people of this country, for the sheer grit and guts you have shown and are continuing to show every day.
I know that this virus brings new sadness and mourning to households across the land.
And it is still true that this is the biggest single challenge this country has faced since the war.
And I in no way minimise the continuing problems we face.
And yet it is also true that we are making progress with fewer hospital admissions, fewer covid patients in ICU, and real signs now that we are passing through the peak.
And thanks to your forbearance, your good sense, your altruism, your spirit of community, thanks to our collective national resolve, we are on the brink of achieving that first clear mission: to prevent our national health service from being overwhelmed in a way that tragically we have seen elsewhere.
And that is how and why we are now beginning to turn the tide.
If this virus were a physical assailant, an unexpected and invisible mugger, which I can tell you from personal experience it is, then this is the moment when we have begun together to wrestle it to the floor.
