Therese Raphael, Columnist

Covid Cases Are Soaring in Britain Again. Why?

The country’s full-speed approach to lifting restrictions has certainly contributed to a spike in infections. But that’s only part of the picture.

October 19, 2021 at 7:26 AM UTC

Updated on

October 19, 2021 at 1:21 PM UTC

By Therese Raphael

Therese Raphael is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion covering health care and British politics. Previously, she was editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe.

Those numbers don’t look good.
Photographer: Justin Tallis/AFP

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Once again Britain has one of the highest rates of Covid infection anywhere. The U.K. just reported its biggest single day Covid case increase in three months and a 16% increase in confirmed cases in the week to Oct. 18. The government has warned of a bad winter.

Even in the era of vaccines, the risks aren’t trivial.