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LONDON: COVID-19 cases in England are now doubling every nine days, official figures showed on Thursday (October 29), with the sharp rise in the death toll mounting pressure on the government to take national action. .
Another 310 deaths were reported Wednesday, the second day in a row for more than 300 deaths.
The upward trajectory of cases now presents a serious challenge to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s strategy of localized restrictions in the worst affected areas.
READ: UK Vaccine Chief Says Impact of First COVID-19 Injections May Be Limited
On October 25, 128 out of 10,000 people were infected in England, up from 60 on October 16, according to an ongoing study by Imperial College London and Ipsos MORI.
The national R rate, which indicates the number of people a COVID-19 case is likely to infect, increased to 1.6.
The prevalence was highest in the north of England, although rates increased in all age groups and in all regions, according to the study.
Earlier this year, Johnson was criticized for his initial laid-back approach to the outbreak, even as the number of positive cases and deaths skyrocketed in other parts of Europe.
READ: Level of protection and timing of first COVID-19 vaccines still uncertain – UK minister
He finally imposed a nationwide lockdown in late March, closing all nonessential shops and schools and forcing millions to work from home to lower transmission rates.
Stay-at-home measures were lifted in June as cases declined, but as the numbers rose again from September, it has so far resisted calls for a second nationwide shutdown.
The government is reluctant to do so given the damage the former did to the economy, causing a wave of job losses and a sharp drop in output.
Instead, England has a three-tier set of restrictions, based on infection rates.
READ: France and Germany lock in as second wave of COVID-19 sweeps Europe
But the Sun newspaper reported that government scientists now want stricter regulations, as they warned that there could be 25,000 COVID-19 patients in the hospital by the end of November.
Many local leaders have resisted stricter rules in their regions due to devastating economic consequences and concerns about the mental health of residents.
Johnson faces a difficult political balancing act, with many of the hardest hit areas in the north of England having his Conservative party beat Labor in the last election.
Some of your own parliamentarians in the north are asking you to give a clearer indication of how long the restrictions will last.
Britain is already the worst affected country in Europe, with more than 45,000 deaths from COVID-19.
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