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LONDON (REUTERS) – Britain will face an exponentially rising death rate from Covid-19 in a few weeks unless urgent action is taken to halt a second wave of the rapidly spreading outbreak, the country’s senior doctors said on Monday. (September 21st).
Britain already has the highest official Covid-19 death toll in Europe, and the fifth largest in the world, while it is also borrowing record amounts in an attempt to pump emergency money through the damaged economy.
But new cases are increasing by at least 6,000 a day in Britain, according to week-long data, hospital admissions are doubling every eight days and the testing system is weakening.
Professor Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical officer, and Dr Patrick Vallance, its chief scientific adviser, warned that if left unchecked, the epidemic would reach 50,000 new cases a day by the middle of next month in the UK.
“If this continues down the road … the number of deaths directly from Covid … will continue to rise, potentially on an exponential curve, that means doubling and doubling and doubling again, and it can go quickly from really very small numbers to really numbers. very big, ”said Professor Whitty.
“If we don’t do enough, the virus will take off and right now that’s the path we’re clearly on and if we don’t change course, then we’re going to find ourselves in a very difficult problem. ”
The virus is spreading throughout all areas of the country and less than 8 percent of the population has antibodies to the virus, although in London, about 17 percent of the population may have antibodies, said Dr. Vallance.
Speed and action are urgently needed, both medical experts said, adding that as winter approaches, the Covid-19 problem will haunt Britain for at least another six months.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will make a statement in the Lower House of Parliament on Tuesday, the leader of the House of Commons said.
Johnson will also chair an emergency response meeting, the so-called Cobra meeting, on Monday to discuss what steps might be necessary to address the resurgence of the pandemic, his spokesman said.
The British prime minister was also scheduled to speak with the leaders of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales on Monday.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the restrictions would be different than last time. The government wants to crack down on socialization, but schools and many workplaces will remain open.
The semi-autonomous governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have directed much of their response to the pandemic in those areas.
Wales imposed curbs in four more areas, Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil and Newport, starting at 1am on Tuesday (Singapore time), leaving just under a third of the Welsh population under restriction.
Restrictions prevent people from entering these areas without a reasonable excuse, such as education or work. Residents can also only meet people outdoors they don’t live with.
Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon said additional restrictions would almost certainly be imposed.
“I need to be absolutely direct with people. Across Scotland, additional restrictions will almost certainly be implemented … over the next few days, ”he said.
The official death toll in Britain is 41,777 people.
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