UK will be able to 'live with Covid', says Johnson, as cases rise by 76 per cent in a week

CORONAVIRUS daily cases in Britain have risen by 76 per cent in a week, as infections rose by more than 20,000 for a second day in a row, after prime minister Boris Johnson’s declaration that the UK will be able to “live with Covid in the future" - even if cases keep soaring as they are now- due to protection from vaccines. Meanwhile, experts have hinted at the possibility of fourth lockdown in the winter.

Johnson on Tuesday (29) hosted a cabinet meeting, which “agreed that once we have completed the roadmap we will be able to live with Covid in the future, even if cases continue to rise, thanks to the protection provided by the vaccines”, a media report said.

A Downing Street spokesman has said that “we believe the link is being broken” between cases and deaths - even though “we’re waiting to see” if it has been “completely severed”. 

Citing the success of UK’s vaccination programme and testing capacity, the spokesman said “we will be able to live with this disease as we do with flu”.

The government will announce a final decision on July 12 on whether step four of England’s roadmap can begin as planned on July 19.

Recent figures show that 20,479 more infections have been reported in the past 24 hours and 23 new deaths, bringing the UK's total death toll to 128,126. More than 90 per cent of England’s areas are now reporting a weekly rise in the Covid cases, with Tamworth in Staffordshire seeing a massive jump after 199 people were tested positive in seven days - compared to just 37 the previous week.

Meanwhile, experts have warned the government that there may be a need of fourth lockdown over winter, due to a possible spike in Covid-19 cases towards the end of the year.

While speaking on BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show on Wednesday (30), Dr Susan Hopkins, the strategic response director for Covid-19 at Public Health England (PHE), talked about a possibility of further lockdowns this winter, saying it “really depends on whether the hospitals start to become overwhelmed at some point”.

Pointing out “rises and falls” in the cases across the country, Hopkins revealed that virus has “definitely reserved” in Bolton and “stabilised” in Blackburn with Darwen, but continues to “rise quite fast” in London and the northeast.

Professor Calum Semple, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), which advises the government, has also warned a "pretty miserable winter" for the UK with further lockdowns a possibility.