British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday defended his decision to impose a second national lockdown 40 days after scientific advisers recommended such a move amid criticism that weeks of delay have meant thousands more infections and hundreds of needless deaths. The comments came as Johnson gave the House of Commons details of the proposed four-week lockdown in England that is set to begin Thursday. Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said the cost of that delay was recorded in statistics of the pandemic. On Sept. 21 the U.K. recorded 11 deaths from COVID-19 and about 4,000 new infections. The U.K. has Europe's deadliest outbreak of COVID-19, with 46,807 deaths recorded through Sunday.

Source: CBC News November 02, 2020 13:28 UTC