Economics
U.K.’s Faltering Economic Rescue Adds to Challenges for Johnson
- Prime minister attacked in media over preparedness for virus
- Shutdown is already hitting the economy, welfare claims surge
Boris Johnson during a news conference in London on March 16.
Photographer: Times/Pool/Bloomberg
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As the death rate rises, Boris Johnson’s government is being hammered in the U.K. for failing to get the health service ready for the coronavirus onslaught. Now what had been his saving grace -- a comprehensive economic package -- is coming under strain too.
State hospitals are running out of face masks for medics, and doctors struggling to get themselves tested for the disease. As if that wasn’t enough to fuel aggressive domestic criticism, soaring welfare claims and complaints from companies facing ruin are now fueling fears that he’s not doing enough to contain the fallout on people’s livelihoods.