UK Records Highest COVID-19 Death Since March, PM Johnson Urges Citizens To Be Careful

JAKARTA - Britain reported its highest death toll and a surge in people being hospitalized due to COVID-19, Tuesday 27 July, prompting Prime Minister Boris Johnson to urge citizens to exercise caution.

The UK reported 131 new deaths from COVID-19 yesterday, being the highest daily total since 17 March, a very high jump considering the previous day Monday 26 July, the UK had recorded only 14 deaths.

The number of COVID-19 patients in UK hospitals also continued to rise to 5,918, also the highest since March, following a spike in cases earlier this month. However, the number of daily new infections has been on a downward trend over the past seven days.

Seeing the developments in the current situation in the UK, PM Boris Johnson also asked citizens to be careful, pay attention to health and safety because the pandemic is not over yet.

"It's very, very important we don't let ourselves run away with premature conclusions about (small numbers)," said PM Johnson, noting that it would take some time for the lifting of restrictions in the UK to apply to the data.

"People have to remain very careful and that remains the government's approach," Johnson said.

Earlier, PM Johnson had lifted restrictions in the UK and bet he could get one of Europe's biggest economies back on track, as so many people are now vaccinated, a decision that marks a new chapter in the response to the novel coronavirus.

Separately, Imperial College epidemiologist Neil Ferguson said the effective end of the UK pandemic may be just months away, as the vaccine reduces the risk of hospitalization and death.

"We're not completely out of the way but the equation has fundamentally changed," Ferguson, whose modeling of the virus says the possibility of spreading at the start of the pandemic in early 2020 alarmed governments around the world, told the BBC.

"I believe by the end of September, or into October we will see the possibility of this pandemic ending," he continued.

PM Johnson lifted the COVID-19 restrictions in the UK on July 19. New daily cases in the current wave peaked the previous two days at 54,674 and have since fallen dramatically, to 23,511 new cases on Tuesday.

The UK alone has one of the highest official death rates from COVID-19 in the world, with 129,303 deaths, but vaccinations and lockdowns have slowed that figure since March.

Separately, Scotland's National Clinical Director Jason Leitch said a gradual return to social activity would help smooth the end of the current wave, but that the next few weeks were unpredictable.

"On the way down, it's always more bumpy than the exponential rise on the way up," he briefly told Reuters.