As the coronavirus pandemic continues to expand across the globe and the death toll steadily rises, the UK might become the worst-hit country in Europe, according to some experts.
The country has been in a lockdown for the past three weeks with police enforcement and social distancing measures in place to slow the spread of the virus.
DESPITE LOCKDOWN T DAILY DEATH TOLL REACHED 1,000 IN FEW DAYS
At least one expert thinks the country will lose many people and the total number of deaths by the end of the outbreak will be worse than two hard-hit countries, Italy and Spain.
Prof. Jeremy Farrar, the director of global charitable foundation the Wellcome Trust and a pandemics expert on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, said on Easter Sunday, the day the toll passed the 10,000 milestone, that the country is likely to have the worst death toll across the continent.
Speaking on BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Farrar said the numbers of deaths and infected are still on the rise in the UK.
“Numbers in the UK have continued to go up. I do hope that we are coming close to the numbers reducing. But yes, the UK is likely to be certainly one of the worst, if not the worst affected country in Europe,” he said.
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle, Washington in the US said the UK could see as many as 66,000 deaths by August but later revised the figure to 37,000.
Scientists at Imperial College London said in March that more than a quarter of a million Britons could die from the coronavirus if no restrictions on people’s movements were put in place, prompting the government to announce the lockdown.