UK PM issues warning of second wave of coronavirus
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that it was inevitable that the country was seeing a second wave of coronavirus and that while he did not want a second national lockdown, everything was being kept under review.
"We are going to keep everything under review," Johnson told UK media on Friday.
United Kingdom recorded 4,322 new positive cases of COVID-19 on Friday, an increase of nearly a thousand on Thursday's tally and the highest since May 8, according to official statistics.
Asked if a second national lockdown was on the cards, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said hospital admissions were doubling every eight days but that a crucial estimate modelled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) would be key.
Its model pointed to about 6,000 new cases a day in England in the week to Sept. 10, up from 3,200 cases per day in the previous week, with the North West and London seen as hotspots.
The UK said reproduction "R" number of COVID-19 infections in the United Kingdom has risen to a range of 1.1-1.4 from last week's figure of 1.0-1.2.
"We're seeing clear signs this virus is now spreading widely across all age groups and I am particularly worried by the increase in rates of admission to hospital and intensive care among older people," said Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director at Public Health England.
"This could be a warning of far worse things to come."
Britain imposed new COVID regulations on the North West, Midlands and West Yorkshire from Tuesday.
Hancock said a lockdown was a last resort but that the government would do whatever it took to tackle the virus.
Asked about a second lockdown, he said: "I can't give you that answer now."