Boris Johnson: “We could see more than twice as many deaths as in the first wave” | the Chronicle

The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, warned on Monday that “deaths from coronavirus during winter could be double those in the first wave of the pandemic”, For what “There is no alternative but to take more action.”

In a speech to the House of Commons, Johnson addressed his message to a group of MPs from his own party who oppose the measure announced on Saturday.

In this sense, he said that the government was forced to impose four weeks of strict restrictions to control the increase in cases across the country.

“The models (statistics) of our scientists suggest that unless we act now, we could see more than twice as many deaths in winter compared to the first wave.” he insisted.

“I know some MPs think we should have made this decision earlier, but I think it was right to try all possible options to control this virus locally, with strong local action and strong local leadership,” Express.

He also warned that the virus it is doubling faster than the increase in capacity that can be afforded to hospitals.

Last Saturday Johnson announced an almost full quarantine for England starting next Thursday and for a “minimum of four weeks” to try to flatten the rising contagion curve, and the measure will be voted on by Parliament on Wednesday.

Hours before the Prime Minister’s intervention, one of his government’s medical advisers said on Monday that without a lockdown like the one announced by the Prime Minister, which will be the second of the year in the country, daily deaths due to the coronavirus could reach between 2000 and 4000.

“The models (statistics) of our scientists suggest that unless we act now, we could see more than twice as many deaths during the winter compared to the first wave.”

“If no action is taken, it is likely that over the next four to six weeks there will be an increase in the number of deaths, which could reach between 2,000 and 4,000 per day,” assured Susan hopkins, Deputy Director of Public Health England.

The Minister of Finance, Rishi Sunak, also assured this morning that the coronavirus is spreading very quickly and that without other restrictions to reduce the rate of infection, the number of deaths in the second wave could exceed those recorded in the first.

Yesterday, the UK broke a record of daily infections for the second day in a row and surpassed the mark of one million confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic.

The country remains in ninth place in the world in terms of Covid-19 cases and in fifth in number of deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Schools and universities will work in the new enclosure, as well as activities where teleworking is not possible. On the other hand, non-essential stores must remain closed and restaurants and bars can only offer take-out or home-delivered products.

Non-essential travel outside of England was also banned until December 2.

Today, a member of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies called Sage, speaking to the BBC, said thousands of lives would have been saved had a second quarantine been introduced sooner.

Andrew Hayward, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at University College London, also argued that it was dangerous to start by trying less stringent restrictions like the ones the UK government had adopted.

In turn, the leader of the Labor Party, Keir Starmer, also questioned the PM’s decision to delay detention and accused Johnson and Sunak of being the culprits “human cost” a deferred measurement.

In a speech at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference, Starmer said that on September 21, the government’s own scientists had recommended a cut “urgent“Two to three weeks to keep the virus from getting out of hand.

He argued that there were 11 deaths from the coronavirus that day and just over 4,000 infections, but the prime minister had ignored this warning.

“Forty days later, when he finally decided to announce a longer nationwide lockdown than four weeks, those numbers had risen to 326 deaths per day and 22,000 positive cases. It is the human cost of government inaction. said the Labor leader.