UK takes tougher stance to combat coronavirus, as previous approach risks hundreds of thousands of lives — study
On Thursday, the UK government told citizens to self-isolate if they were experiencing mild coronavirus symptoms, but that it would do more harm than good to impose drastic measures such as implementing a stringent social distancing policy, in stark contrast to its neighbors Italy, Spain and France.
In a dramatic reversal, Boris Johnson and his science advisors took to the stage on Monday and effectively said we cannot keep calm and carry on — Britons were asked to cease all non-essential contact, stop going to offices or visit pubs, theatres, and other social venues. The big reason behind this tougher stance was attributed to a study from Imperial College London, which found that the previous approach could have killed 250,000 people in the UK and overwhelmed the National Health Service (NHS).
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