Prognosis
U.K. Covid Data Worsens Ahead of Johnson’s Lockdown Decision
- Premier is due to say Monday whether he’ll ease rules June 21
- Delta strain triples in week; English cases rise to 1 in 560
Photographer: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
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U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a slew of deteriorating coronavirus data ahead of his crunch decision Monday on whether to proceed with the final stage of reopening the economy later this month.
The reproduction rate of the virus in England has risen to levels last seen in October, the government said Friday. Separate research by the statistics office found an estimated 1 in 560 people in England had the virus in the week to June 4, up from 1 in 640 a week earlier and 1 in 1,340 in early May.