British Prime Minister Boris Johnson mulling 2nd lockdown as virus cases surge

London: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on Monday pondering a second national lockdown as an accelerating coronavirus outbreak threatened to destroy any shoots of economic recovery and send millions back into isolation.

The UK already has the biggest official Covid-19 death toll in Europe — and the fifth largest in the world — while it is borrowing record amounts in an attempt to pump emergency money through the damaged economy.

But new Covid-19 cases are rising by at least 6,000 per day in Britain, according to week-old data, hospital admissions are doubling every eight days, and the testing system is buckling.


“The trend in the UK is heading in the wrong direction and we are at a critical point in the pandemic,” Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical officer, will say at a briefing at 1000 GMT on Monday. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the restrictions would be different to last time: the government wants to crack down on socialising but schools and many workplaces will stay open.