UK's top medical adviser says COVID-19 outbreak 'probably reaching peak'

Amid the unprecedented outbreak of deadly coronavirus, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s top medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty has said that the pandemic is “probably reaching the peak overall” in the country. The comments by the Professor came on April 15 (local time) while the coronavirus infections in the country as of now have reached 98,476 with at least 12,868 fatalities. British officials have said that it is ‘too soon’ to ease the restrictions on lockdown imposed nationwide to curb the spread of coronavirus. According to reports, many officials even warned that Europe might witness a severe death rate due to failure of government. 

While speaking at a daily news conference at Downing Street, Witty noted that slowdown in new infections of COVID-19 in the country is a positive sign, however, the country would still record a spike in the number of deaths. Therefore, at the given moment, according to the professor, UK is not at a position to claim that country has successfully witnessed the peak of the pandemic because “high numbers of deaths will continue for short while”. The number of casualties reported by the British Department of Health has apparently been less than 800 for four consecutive days, however, the statistics may be subjected to irregularity due to easter holidays. 

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'Passed the peak' in US

While UK believes that it is "reaching the peak" of COVID-19 pandemic, United States President Donald Trump not only said that his “aggressive strategy” was working against the pandemic but added that “the data suggests that nationwide we have passed the peak on new cases”.  Trump’s comments came as US reported another record number of deaths due to COVID-19 disease with 2,600 casualties in 24 hours. As of April 16, total coronavirus cases have mounted to 644,089 with at least 28,529 fatalities. 

Despite the statistics, the US President vouched for easing lockdowns in the country in the near future. While mentioning about the re-opening of American businesses, that have taken a blow in the face of coronavirus outbreak, Trump assured that there will still be “guidelines” to follow for the citizens. The US President had previously indicated that the country will make a comeback and “economy will boom again” by starting ease of restrictions apparently before May 1. 

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