UK government extends virus lockdown by at least 3 weeks

LONDON (AP) — The British government announced Thursday that a nationwide lockdown imposed to slow the spread of the new coronavirus will remain in place for at least three more weeks, as health officials said the UK’s outbreak — one of Europe’s worst — was nearing its peak.

The lockdown has been in place since March 23.

Schools, pubs, restaurants and most shops are closed, and most people are allowed to leave home only for essential errands or exercise.

“We know it’s rough going at this time,” said Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is standing in for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as the British leader recovers from COVID-19.

But, Raab said, “we’ve sacrificed far too much to ease up now.”

“There is light at the end of the tunnel, but now we are at both a delicate and dangerous stage in this pandemic,” he said at a news conference.

Medical officials say the number of new cases and hospitalisations for the coronavirus in the UK has levelled off, but it’s too early to loosen restrictions on daily life.

Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance said that while transmission of the virus has been dramatically reduced, “we run the risk of a second peak” if the lockdown is loosened now.

As of Thursday, 13,729 people had died in UK hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus, an increase of 861 from a day earlier.

That number understates the true toll of the pandemic, since it does not include hundreds, and maybe thousands, of virus-related deaths in nursing homes and other settings.

For now, extending the lockdown has wide public and political support.

But as other European countries cautiously ease their restrictions, Britain’s Conservative government faces pressure to explain when and how the country will reopen.

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