Advertisement

Updated April 17th, 2020 at 18:38 IST

UK warned about new wave of virus infections

A leading public health expert says “system errors” have led to Britain having likely the highest coronavirus death rate in Europe, as the U.K. government comes under pressure over its record in fighting the pandemic.

| Image:self
Advertisement

A leading public health expert says “system errors” have led to Britain having likely the highest coronavirus death rate in Europe, as the U.K. government comes under pressure over its record in fighting the pandemic.

Anthony Costello, a professor at the Institute for Global Health at University College London, said the U.K. “could see 40,000 deaths” by the time the first wave of the outbreak is over.

"We should have a no blame audit, where were the system errors that led us to have probably the highest death rates in Europe," he told a Health and Social Care Commitee on Friday.  "We have to face the reality that we were slow with a number of things, but we can make sure that in the second way we're not too slow," he added.

As of Thursday, 13,729 people had died in U.K. hospitals after testing positive for the coronavirus. The number does not include hundreds, and maybe thousands, of virus-related deaths in nursing homes and other settings.

Costello has been a prominent critic of the government’s strategy, saying it has not been testing enough people for the virus and has failed to trace and isolate people who have been in contact with the infected.

Britain was slower than many other European countries to impose mandatory restrictions on business and daily life to slow the spread of the coronavirus. A lockdown was imposed March 23 and on Thursday was extended for at least three more weeks.

 

Advertisement

Published April 17th, 2020 at 18:38 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo