Boris Johnson Warns UK Lockdown Could Be Extended
United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister Mr Boris Johnson has hinted on the possibility of extending the lockdown as that country has been hit by the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Johnson announced on Saturday that new restrictions across England would kick in after midnight on Thursday morning and last until Dec. 2.
UK has the biggest official death toll in Europe from COVID-19 and of late, it has been struggling to contain more than 20 000 new coronavirus cases a day amid warnings by scientists that a worst-case scenario of 80 000 fatalities this winter.
Senior cabinet minister Michael Gove told Sky News that he foresees the lockdown being extended beyond early December unless action is taken now. He said
We can definitively say that unless we take action now, the (health service) is going to be overwhelmed in ways that none of us could countenance.
The new lockdown announcement came 10 days after Johnson told parliament it would “make no sense at all” to “turn the lights out with a full national lockdown”.
Johnson’s critics want him out for being indecisive at the expense of both the public’s lives and the economy.
More: Reuters
