Boris was keen to emphasise an exit strategy to this lockdown in the Commons this afternoon, no doubt pre-empting concerns of his backbenchers. In describing the way out of repeated lockdowns, Boris promised to “use this moment to exploit the medical and technical advances we are making to keep [the R] low.” These include…

• Dexamethasone, the first validated life-saving treatment of the disease, pioneered in this country.
• Real prospect of a vaccine in the first quarter of next year.
• Ever more sophisticated means of providing virtually instant tests.

The PM emphasised that the asymptomatic testing of “large number of NHS workers, children, teachers and students” will be key, with a new programme starting this month of a “steady but massive expansion” of “quick turnaround tests which we will be manufacturing in this country.” The Army has been brought in to manage logistics and the programme begins in a matter of days. If anything short of a vaccine could be a game-changer, millions of tests that do not require days of waiting for results will be…