The United Kingdom raised the alert level on Monday measuring the evolution of the novel coronavirus epidemic, health authorities warning that the country risked deploring more than 200 deaths per day in November without “changing course”.
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On the eve of a crisis meeting of the British government, at the end of which Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to speak to Parliament, the heads of the medical services of the four British provinces raised the alert level to 4 , compared to 3 since June.
This corresponds to a “high or exponentially increasing” level of transmission.
“The virus is spreading. We are at a tipping point, “Health Minister Matt Hancock warned in Parliament,” We must all play our part to stop the spread.
The most bereaved country in Europe with nearly 42,000 dead, the United Kingdom is currently seeing contaminations “double every seven days”, warned the government’s scientific adviser Patrick Vallance in a televised address earlier in the day.
If the epidemic followed this curve, “we would arrive at 50,000 cases per day in mid-October” – against around 6,000 currently according to estimates – and this could lead to “200 deaths per day or more in mid-November”, he said. he continued.
At the height of the pandemic, the United Kingdom counted nearly 1,000 deaths per day in its daily reports.
“If we don’t change course, the virus will take off. This is the path we are on, ”explained Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, during this speech where the two great figures of the British health authorities, who have become familiar to the general public, adopted a tone serious and pedagogue.
Local restrictions to fight the spread of the virus are increasing – including Monday in four areas of Wales – the government hoping to only resort as a last resort to a national lockdown with devastating consequences for an economy already severely affected by the lockdown of the first wave.
Due to advances in treatments and the hope of having a vaccine next year, this is a “six-month problem,” Chris Whitty warned.
Boris Johnson spoke by phone with the Scottish, Welsh and North Irish Prime Ministers on Monday. “They have agreed to take a unified approach as much as possible over the next few days,” Downing Street said in a statement.
In addition to the Council of Ministers, the British Prime Minister is due on Tuesday to hold a meeting devoted to the government’s response to the resumption of the epidemic.
Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon (separatist) said she was in favor of an “alignment” of the four nations of the United Kingdom, while saying she was ready to do without if the decisions taken in London did not seem adequate.