London: With an intensive second wave of COVID-19 fast-spreading, skyrocketing cases to 23,065 on Thursday, United Kingdom (UK) is on the brink of the second lockdown, health experts say. And, while Prime Minister Boris Johnson is keen to avoid another national lockdown, the Prime Minister has refused to rule it out.
This is due to a new three-tiered system which means millions of people have been slapped with restrictions to help halt the rising number of COVID-19 cases. The toughest of restrictions were seen in cities like Manchester, Liverpool and Lancashire—including closure of pubs and bars and a ban on overnight stays outside the home.
According to an exclusive report in the Telegraph, the government is working on the assumption that the second wave of COVID-19 will be deadlier than the first. A well-placed source said to the newspaper, “It is going to be worse this time, more deaths. That is the projection that has been put in front of the PM and he is now being put under a lot of pressure to lockdown again.”
Separately, Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) is also known to have warned that all of England will need to be under Tier 3 COVID-19 restrictions—the toughest curb under the tiered approach—by Mid-December, scuppering Johnson’s hopes for a normal Christmas.
These projections come as European countries battle rapidly rising COVID-19 cases with already equipped measures. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel already ordered their countries back into lockdown on Wednesday. Several other countries also took up strict measures.
The latest figures from the World Health Organization showed Europe reported 1.3 million new cases in the past seven days, nearly half the 2.9 million reported worldwide, with over 11,700 deaths, a 37% jump over the previous week.