Surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths raises demands UK lockdown
29 October, 2020
COVID-19 cases in England are actually doubling every nine days, official figures showed on Thursday (Oct 29), with the sharply increasing death toll piling pressure on the government to take national action.
Another 310 deaths were reported on Wednesday - the next consecutive day greater than 300 fatalities.
The upward trajectory of cases is now presenting a serious challenge to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's strategy of localised restrictions on the worst-hit areas.
On Oct 25, 128 per 10,000 persons were infected in England, up from 60 on Oct 16, according to an ongoing study by Imperial College London and Ipsos MORI.
The national R rate, which indicates the quantity of men and women a COVID-19 case will probably infect, rose to at least one 1.6.
Prevalence was highest in northern England, although rates were climbing across all age ranges and all regions, based on the study.
Earlier this season, Johnson was criticised for his initial relaxed approach to the outbreak, even while the quantity of positive cases and deaths spiralled elsewhere in Europe.
He eventually imposed a national lockdown in late March, shutting all non-essential shops and schools, and forcing millions to work from home to cut transmission rates.
The stay-at-home measures were lifted in June as cases dwindled but as numbers spiked again from September, he has up to now resisted calls for another national lockdown.
The federal government is reluctant to do so given the damage the first did to the economy, triggering a wave of job losses and a severe dent in output.
Instead, England includes a three-tier set of restrictions, depending on rates of infection.
However the Sun newspaper reported that government scientists now want stricter regulations as they warned there may be 25,000 COVID-19 patients in hospital by the end of November.
Many local leaders have resisted more stringent rules within their regions as a result of devastating monetary consequences and concerns over the mental health of residents.
Johnson faces a hard political balancing act, with lots of the worst-affected areas in northern English seats that his Conservative party won from Labour within the last election.
A few of his own MPs in the north are calling for him to give a clearer indication of how long restrictions can last.
Britain has already been the hardest hit country in Europe, with an increase of than 45,000 COVID-19 fatalities.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
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