LONDON (Reuters) – The death toll from COVID-19 in British hospitals rose to 11,329 on Monday and the government, which is having to operate without its convalescing leader Boris Johnson, signalled that there would be no easing of lockdown measures this week.
The British death toll is the fifth highest globally and a senior scientific adviser to the government has said the country risks becoming the worst-hit in Europe.
The government has had to defend its response to the outbreak, with complaints of insufficient testing and protective kit for medics and questions about whether Johnson, before he fell ill with COVID-19, was too slow to impose a lockdown.
“Amidst this sobering death toll, there are also some positive signs from the data that we are starting to win this struggle,” said Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, deputising for Johnson while he recovers.
“But we still have a long way to go,” Raab said. “We’re still not past the peak of this virus.”
The government’s panel of scientific advisers is due to review the evidence on the effectiveness of social distancing measures this week, but Raab signalled that was unlikely to result in any easing of restrictions.
“We don’t expect to make any changes