UK past peak of COVID-19 outbreak and on downward slope, says PM Johnson
Boris Johnson
As Britain continues to battle the coronavirus, PM Boris Johnson said the country is "past the peak" of COVID-19 outbreak.
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"For the first time, we are past the peak of this disease... and we are on the downward slope," Johnson said even as Britain recorded mounting death toll due to the virus.
As PM Johnson made the declaration, the government announced on Thursday that 674 people had died due to the virus in the past 24 hours.
The country has recorded 26,711 deaths and has 166, 628 coronavirus infected cases even as the National Health Service(NHS) fights the virus amid depleted resources.
85 workers in the NHS have died due to the virus and 23 in social care, according to the government.
Britain now has third-highest death toll after Italy and Spain in Europe and it is behind US, Spain, Italy and France in the number of infected cases.
Amid the rising number of cases, Britain has widened its testing regime for COVID-19 to care homes and the elderly in order to combat the virus.
However, the UKgovernment is still not ready to ease the lockdown with PM Johnson rejecting the idea.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said:"This issue of a second spike and the need to avoid it, it's not a theoretical risk."
"Having relaxed restrictions in Germany over the last week, they've seen a rise in the transmission rate of coronavirus," Raab said, adding,"we're in a delicate and dangerous moment. We're coming through the peak, but we're not there yet."