últimas notícias

But the latest numbers suggest the tailored approach is no longer enough.

The government’s scientific advisory panel, known as SAGE, estimated earlier this month that there are between 43,000 and 75,000 new infections a day in England, a rate that is above the worst-case scenarios calculated only weeks before that.

Hospital admissions are also running ahead of the worst-case scenario, the panel said, raising the specter that within weeks, the National Health Service will not be able to cope with the influx of patients. That could drive Britain’s virus-related death toll beyond the 85,000 that scientists estimated could be reached this winter.

On Friday, Britain reported 24,405 new infections and admitted 1,489 patients to the hospital with symptoms of Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. Nearly 1,000 patients are in intensive care units, while 274 people died.

Britain’s total death toll from the virus is 58,925, one of the highest in Europe.

Politics has colored the debate over how to curb the virus. The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, called on Mr. Johnson two weeks ago to impose a two-week lockdown that scientists said would act as a “circuit breaker” on the chain of transmissions. He cited a report from SAGE that warned Britain faced a “very large epidemic with catastrophic consequences.”