It is too early to lift lockdown restrictions in the U.K., the country’s health minister warned Thursday, adding that the coronavirus outbreak in Britain is beginning to peak.
Britain has one of the highest and death rates from coronavirus, behind the U.S. and four other European nations. The U.K. has reported 99,516 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, 12,868 deaths, and 370 recoveries, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. Britain has a population of 66 million.
“We think it is too early to make a change,” said British Health Minister Matt Hancock.
“While we’ve seen a flattening of the number of cases, and thankfully a flattening of the number of deaths, that hasn’t started to come down yet.”
The British government is expected to discuss plans to ease restrictions in the coming weeks, and a review of the existing lockdown restrictions during a meeting Thursday. But it will take place absent Prime Minister Boris Johnson who continues to recover from COVID-19 that cost him a stay in the intensive care unit, Reuters reported.
Foreign Minister Dominic Raab has been deputising in his place, and has stated there are no immediate intentions to lift restrictions.
“If we just released all the measures now, then this virus would run rampant once again and we can’t let that happen,” Mr. Hancock said.
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